1966 Duke Kentucky Game
- Thread starter Verga4ever
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Bullshit!
Rupp wanted to sign Wes Unseld at all cost; however, racist told his family that if he played in the SEC he would be killed in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. So he signed with Louisville. It happened to others also. By the way Unseld would have been a Soph for UK in 1966.
So please don't start that. Duke is in North Carolina and they were the center of anti-black sentiment.
You can't rewrite history on basketball and racism in one thread.
No, you certainly can't. That's why I devoted a whole book to it. And make no mistake about it;
Unseld and the rest of those guys knew what they were gonna get down in Alabama and Mississippi
and they wanted no part of it. They were not fools.
Unseld and the rest of those guys knew what they were gonna get down in Alabama and Mississippi
and they wanted no part of it. They were not fools.
It looks like Duke prevented some major racial riots from breaking out by losing to UK in the 1996 Final 4 and not being matched up with an all black team.
Duke even then was proving it was America’s Team by doing the right thing all the time.
Duke even then was proving it was America’s Team by doing the right thing all the time.
It's pretty funny that Rupp/UK get all the vitriol of being "racist" all due to that game because simpletons are too ignorant to realize very few southern teams were integrated at the time, and those that were had just recently done so. In that era many SEC schools wouldn't even schedule you if you were integrated. Rupp tried to recruit some black players, but how many do you think were willing to play half their games in the deep south where everything was still segregated and lynchings were a regular occurrence? Rupp would've loved to have Jim Tucker out of Paris Western (KY) at UK in 1950 but they were bound by Jim Crow segregation laws. Rupp arranged for him to get a scholarship to Duquesne and he went on to be an All-American. It could've been Duke, UNC, or a bunch of other teams playing in that game with nothing but white players, but it just happened to be UK, and sooo many people seem to think UK was the only all-white team in America and Lexington was the mecca of racism because they apparently never took an American History class in middle school. 😂
Jon Scott aka bigbluehistory has debunked so many of these myths by actually calling those who said/wrote those articles. players and "journalists", instead of citing them.
John Feinstein had a clear bias and was torn to shreds. His books were a long post full of cherry-picked angles and didn't hold up by those who remember.
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My information is from Rupp and Joe B. For the uninformed Joe B. was the UK assistant in 1966.
Feinstein is a anti-UK turd.
Man, the shit is getting deep!
Hell Duke still has not had a black coach in basketball or football.
I actually looked carefully into the riot aspect in Durham (hey it was me and my Mom that were gonna
get pelted with rocks and bottles in '66). People in Durham were too smart to do that, and the game
was played in the cold weather months; riots usually occurred during the summer. But make no
mistake about it. There were more than 100 cities that were going to riot a year later, and all
of them played ball and were going to see the game. It was definitely NOT going to help the situation.
get pelted with rocks and bottles in '66). People in Durham were too smart to do that, and the game
was played in the cold weather months; riots usually occurred during the summer. But make no
mistake about it. There were more than 100 cities that were going to riot a year later, and all
of them played ball and were going to see the game. It was definitely NOT going to help the situation.
The story that I find equally interesting, in roughly the same time period, is Mississippi State winning multiple SEC titles but not competing in the NCAA Tournament because of some weird rule where they couldn't compete against blacks. After missing multiple NCAA Tournaments where they were eligible, the coach evidently snuck the team out of the state to play against Loyola Chicago. Crazy times that must have been.
Yeah, I actually discussed that in the book under the Kentucky and SEC section. It shows what the SEC was like back then.
Now you’re throwing stones because Duke and their fans don’t see color? I have no idea if Coach K was Asian, Hispanic, or Black, and I really don’t care to find out. In my eyes, he’s just a coach.
I just saw his huge nose. Game recognizes game.
The ACC was exactly the same way folks, not just the SEC.
Now that we are pointing fingers look at St. Johns, Villanova, or the Big Ten.
Racism was not just a southern thing.
The ACC most certainly was back then. They had just gotten their first black players in that very year.
That was part of the point of the book; Duke, who did not integrate until 1963 after a 15 year battle, and the ACC had NOT represented racial progress in that era. THAT's why if Duke had played the game it would indeed
have had significant racial implications; and much more negative ones that Kentucky.
That was part of the point of the book; Duke, who did not integrate until 1963 after a 15 year battle, and the ACC had NOT represented racial progress in that era. THAT's why if Duke had played the game it would indeed
have had significant racial implications; and much more negative ones that Kentucky.
Very good point. It took a while but you came around. But you avoid the fact that Kentucky basketball wanted to integrate but was forced not to do so by a few racist states like Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida et.al. It is hard to recruit a black player when there are newspaper articles in some of the cities you will be playing stating that they will kill you.
Earlier you lead me to think that Kentucky was behind North Carolina. That lead me to think that you did not follow the game or race relations during that era. I did. UK integrated in 1949.
The only place that I have ever seen the KKK was in North Carolina. Me and two of my Kentucky buddies beat the shit out of two KKK guys and took their little white hats and pissed on them. Man that made them mad!
In my 77 years I have never seen or met a member of the KKK in Kentucky. I am confident that they exist but I have not had any contact with such assholes.
No, in fact, that was two of the points of the book (hey you should buy
it and read, right?) First, I clearly showed what Rupp was dealing with in
taking players to places like Alabama and Mississippi. I mean, they couldn't
even get WES UNSELD to do it. Secondy, I point out that the Klan was well
organized and active in NC at the time of the game. That was one of the
main reasons Duke was NOT playing it,
it and read, right?) First, I clearly showed what Rupp was dealing with in
taking players to places like Alabama and Mississippi. I mean, they couldn't
even get WES UNSELD to do it. Secondy, I point out that the Klan was well
organized and active in NC at the time of the game. That was one of the
main reasons Duke was NOT playing it,
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