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:

Christopher Cleveland, Bettina Gilois

Stars:

Josh Lucas, Derek Luke, Austin Nichols

2 wins & 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

In 1965, the coach of the high school girl basketball team Don Haskins is invited by the Texas Western Miners to be their coach. Despite the lack of budget, Haskins sees the chance to dispute the NCAA and moves with his wife and children to the college dormitory. He recruits seven talented and rejected black players to play with five Caucasian players and formed a legendary team that won the 1966 national championship against the powerful Kentucky.

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Plot Keywords:

national championship | texas | coach | ncaa | college | 

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Taglines:

The incredible story of the team that changed the game forever.

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Genres:

Biography | 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:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 January 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Camino a la gloria

Filming Locations:

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$16,927,589, 15 January 2006, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$42,643,187, 7 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:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ben Affleck was originally set to play Don Haskins, but pulled out of the project due to scheduling conflicts.

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Goofs

When the girl and the guy are in the car on the hill top over looking the city, she touches his chin when the camera is facing her, but when the camera flips to the guy, her hand is on his chest.

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Quotes

Coach Don Haskins: Jason, Don Haskins, Texas Western.
Stevens: Western Union?
Coach Don Haskins: Texas Western down in El Paso. Hey, after the game, when you get a minute I'd like to talk to you about playing for me.
Stevens: Play for you at Texas Western? Thanks, Coach, but I'm partial to winning.

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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 Sports Jeopardy!: Episode #2.25 (2016)

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Soundtracks

Green Onions
Written by Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Lewie Steinberg and Al Jackson Jr.
Performed by Booker T. & the M.G.s (as Booker T. and the MG's)
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By Arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing

User Reviews

conventional but entertaining sports flick

"Glory Road" tells the true story of Don Haskins, the basketball coach for Western Texas College, who in the mid 1960's, broke the color barrier in the NCAA by being the first to feature a majority of black players on his team. The movie chronicles the obstacles he and his players faced, as well as their ultimate triumph when the team won the national championship in 1966.

"Glory Road" worships at the altar of just about every underdog-sports-movie cliché one can imagine, yet the viewer can't help getting caught up in its story anyway. The scenes in the first half of the movie definitely have a familiar ring to them, as we see the coach first alienating his players with his hardnosed tactics, then winning them over by building comradeship and showing them how much they can accomplish when they work together as a team rather than as individuals. However, as with "Remember the Titans," "Glory Road" is more interested in examining the social background of its time period than in merely telling yet another sports-oriented David and Goliath tale. The second half of the film concentrates more on the overt racism the team members face and the surprising courage they and their coach demonstrate in confronting it (could this really be set a mere 40 years ago?). The young actors are uniformly excellent, but it is Josh Lucas as Coach Haskins who delivers the powerhouse performance here. And director James Gartner manages to keep the film moving at a fast clip, never allowing it to get bogged down in message-mongering or overt preachiness.

Almost in spite of itself, "Glory Road" turns into a genuinely inspiring story about courage and determination in the face of societal pressure and incalculable odds. And that's pretty much what sports stories, familiar though they might be, are really all about.