Glory Road (2006)

In 1966, Texas Western coach Don Haskins led the first all-black starting line-up for a college basketball team to the NCAA national championship.

Director:

James Gartner

Writers:

Chris Cleveland, Bettina Gilois

Stars:

Josh Lucas, Derek Luke, Austin Nichols

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Josh Lucas	...	Don Haskins
Derek Luke	...	Bobby Joe Hill
Austin Nichols	...	Jerry Armstrong
Jon Voight	...	Adolph Rupp
Evan Jones	...	Moe Iba
Schin A.S. Kerr	...	David Lattin
Alphonso McAuley	...	Orsten Artis
Mehcad Brooks	...	Harry Flournoy
Sam Jones III	...	Willie Worsley
Damaine Radcliff	...	Willie 'Scoops' Cager
Emily Deschanel	...	Mary Haskins
Al Shearer	...	Nevil Shed
Red West	...	Ross Moore
Kip Weeks	...	Togo Railey
Mitch Eakins	...	Dick Myers

Storyline

40 years ago, Don Haskins went on the recruiting trail to find the best talent in the land, black or white. 7 blacks and 5 whites made up the legendary 1965-66 Texas Western Miners. They were mocked and ridiculed for their showboating and flaunting of black players on the court. Yet, in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, Haskins and his Miners came together as a team united to reach the National Championship game against powerhouse Kentucky.

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Plot Keywords:

texas | college basketball | coach | college | basketball | 

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Taglines:

Winning changes everything.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for racial issues including violence and epithets, and momentary language

Details

Official Sites:

Disney [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 January 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Caminho Para a Glória

Filming Locations:

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$16,927,589 (USA) (13 January 2006)

Gross:

$42,643,187 (USA) (5 May 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Texas Western Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Prosthetic ears, cheeks, and nose was added to Jon Voight to make his angular face more rounded like Coach Adolph Rupp.

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Goofs

In the championship game, the crowd is portrayed waving Confederate flags and singing "Dixie." This never happened, as can be seen in the historical footage at the end of the movie.

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Quotes

[after a pass is stolen by Bobby Joe Hill]
Adolph Rupp: [to Pat Riley] That's what you get for talking to him!

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Crazy Credits

During the credits, an inset shows several of the actual people involved (Don Haskins, David Lattin, Pat Riley, Orsten Artis, Willie Worsley, Harry Flournoy, and Nevil Shed) commenting about the championship game and its implications. Video of that game is also shown.

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Connections

Referenced in The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Josh Lucas (2006)

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Soundtracks

"El Paso"
Written by Marty Robbins

User Reviews

Glory Road's History of TWC and Games Inaccurate

Glory Road is a very entertaining movie if you are will to overlook its many inaccuracies. The movie would make the viewer think that Coach Haskins came to TWC and recruited a national championship caliber team in his first year as a collegiate coach. The truth is that Coach Haskins had been at TWC for 3 or 4 years before the national championship year and that there were several black players already at TWC including Nolan Richardson. Haskins also recruited Jim Barnes before the championship year and teams that Barnes played on may have been better than the championship team.

The film also take too many liberties with the games that were played during the championship year. The first game of the year was not a nail biter as the film shows but almost a 50 point blowout. The film shows that Iowa led TWC most of the game. The Iowa game was never close and certainly was no buzzer beater. The fact is that TWC only played a handful of games that were close that year, most notably against New Mexico and then in the NCAA Tournament against Cincy and Kansas.

The most disappointing inaccuracy shown in the film was the final game against Kentucky. Kentucky only led briefly in the game and TWC had as much as an 11 point lead in the 2nd half. TWC was not behind when Bobby Joe Hill stole the ball twice in the first half. The two steals allowed TWC to expand its lead to 5 points and set the tone for the rest of the game. I know the producers of the movie had to have a more exciting finish to keep the audience excited but the truth is that the game was never much in doubt. If anyone has seen the actual game film that exists, you will see a poorly played offensive game by both teams and an outstanding defensive effort by TWC. The movie should have paid more time on Coach Haskins' three guard strategy to counter Kentucky's fast break offense.

Glory Road is an inspirational movie but not a very accurate movie if you know the history of TWC. See the movie if you want to watch a feel good movie but not if you are looking for sports fact.