Sports - The Stuff of Legends

Mention the University of Texas at El Paso in a conversation here and wait for the word "history" to come up. It doesn’t usually take long. The campus' original buildings are historical monuments. The modern campus is known for its Bhutanese architectural influence. But the real legacy at UTEP was created in 1966 when a then-unknown coach and his basketball team took the floor in College Park, Maryland with the first-ever all-black starting lineup in a championship game. Coach Don Haskins made an indelible mark on the little place, then known as Texas Western College, when the Miners defeated the heavily favored Kentucky Wildcats. The film Glory Road chronicled, loosely, the exploits of Don Haskins and the Miners' national championship of 40 years ago. The film was a hit nationwide, but in El Paso it had sellout crowds for months as locals streamed to the theaters to see their favorite legend on the big screen.

The legacy Don Haskins created after that game is also impressive. He earned a spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame having won 719 games, seven conference championships and appearing in the NCAA Tournament 14 times. Haskins was CBS Sportsline.com’s pick as the "greatest men’s Division I basketball coach of all time" in 2001.

UTEP basketball has been the centerpiece of its sports program and although fans might only know UTEP through its association with that single championship, its athletic heritage is rich and diverse.

The UTEP Miners football team has had its share of being the butt of jokes, but in the last few years former National Coach of the Year Mike Price has brought success and respect back to UTEP football. Once again it’s cool to wear bright orange in El Paso during both basketball and football seasons. Price and his staff have guided the Miners to consecutive seasons being ranked in the top 25 and each culminating in bowl invitations. The Miners play in the beautiful Sun Bowl Stadium, built in 1963 and home to the annual Sun Bowl game. Nestled in the mountains surrounding the campus, the picturesque stadium is always ready for its close-up. A recent addition to the stadium is the Larry K. Durham Sports Center. Named for its major benefactor and former player who scored the first touchdown in the Sun Bowl, the facility is a multimillion dollar centerpiece for athletics, boasting state-of-the-art football offices, a strength and conditioning center and a sports medicine center.

Since the 1970s, UTEP track and field teams have been almost unbeatable, racking up a total of 20 national team championships and over a hundred championships in individual events. The success has built an international team that sent a dozen UTEP athletes to represent their various countries at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Former Miners from various sports are recognizable to devout sports fans: Nate "Tiny" Archibald and Tim Hardaway have been standouts on the UTEP court. Former long jump world record holder Bob Beamon was a UTEP student when he made his famous leap for the gold medal in the Mexico City Olympics. In the NFL, former Green Bay kicker Chris Jacke, former Jet cornerback Ray Mickens, former Philadelphia Eagle Seth Joyner and current St. Louis Ram Brian Young all played on the Sun Bowl turf.