This scene reminds me a lot about those who think Rupp didn't try hard enough to integrate

[tapemaster8]

I want to say it was the Florida game but that might not be right. I was at every home game that year...I was 22 then...that was 40 years ago....I do remember that Marion Haskins came in as a substitute and that made it five blacks...I know it was not a full house because that team was struggling till they caught fire at the end and went to the NIT. I do remember how noticeable it was that the chair backs started leaving.

I think you are right about that Robey was hurt out with a knee injury. Haskins, Warford, Johnson, Givens, Lee maybe?

 

[2Adulterers]

All you young people talk about Mississippi and Louisiana...Lexington was segregated. Unseld could not eat at the same restaurant as his Seneca teammates at the state tournament.

I was a student at UK in the 1975-76 season and the first time UK had 5 black on the floor at the same time and the season ticket holders headed for the exits.

While I think Coach Rupp wanted to integrate, things were milder in Kentucky than Mississippi by it was far from embracing.

not true..I was on that Seneca team as Manager ..We ate together every meal in Lexington..

 

[TexKat]

People forget, and the youngsters don't know; but Kentucky was just as segregated as any deep south state at the time.

I'll venture to say Ky was not nearly as blatant with all as a few hundred miles and more to the south.

 

[JPScott]

I want to say it was the Florida game but that might not be right. I was at every home game that year...I was 22 then...that was 40 years ago....I do remember that Marion Haskins came in as a substitute and that made it five blacks...I know it was not a full house because that team was struggling till they caught fire at the end and went to the NIT. I do remember how noticeable it was that the chair backs started leaving.

Looking at the boxscore that seems like a likely candidate. They were coming off three straight losses after Robey had been injured earlier.

The starters presumably were Jack Givens, James Lee, Mike Philips, Larry Johnson & Reggie Warford.

http://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/Statistics/Games/19760221Florida.html

With Merion Haskins, Bob Fowler & Truman Claytor as subs, it seems likely to have happened at some point.

According to the game summary they had an 11-point lead before Florida took a one point lead with 9:02 remaining. Finally with five minutes left UK went ahead for good.

 

[JPScott]

People forget, and the youngsters don't know; but Kentucky was just as segregated as any deep south state at the time.

While it's true that Kentucky was segregated during that time, to say it was 'just as' segregated I think is false.

Pertaining to this topic Rupp was instrumental in getting both the Phoenix and Lafayette hotels to accommodate black guests. This was critical in getting integrated teams to play UK in Lexington, which they did regularly throughout the 1950s.

I don't think the same can be did for most other Southern hotels at that time.

Of course Rupp rarely receives credit for these types of actions because it directly contradicts the myth that some in the media have actively tried to perpetuate.

 

[2Adulterers]

While it's true that Kentucky was segregated during that time, to say it was 'just as' segregated I think is false.

Pertaining to this topic Rupp was instrumental in getting both the Phoenix and Lafayette hotels to accommodate black guests. This was critical in getting integrated teams to play UK in Lexington, which they did regularly throughout the 1950s.

I don't think the same can be did for most other Southern hotels at that time.

Of course Rupp rarely receives credit for these types of actions because it directly contradicts the myth that some in the media have actively tried to perpetuate.

Jon:
Coach Rupp did many things to help black players and never got credit for it..When Temple came to town ,as you mention, he went to the Phoenix Hotel and made damn sure that everyone was taken care of..

 

[JPScott]

Jon:
Coach Rupp did many things to help black players and never got credit for it..When Temple came to town ,as you mention, he went to the Phoenix Hotel and made damn sure that everyone was taken care of..

True. FWIW when I came into the Rupp issue in the late 80's I didn't really know much about him other than he won a lot of games at UK and named their arena after him.

To me it was embarrassing to see national sportswriters drag UK's basketball program through the mud because it was associated with him. I could have buried my head in the sand and just tried to disassociate myself from Rupp altogether, like I know a lot of younger UK fans have done.

But before I did that, I actually took the step to do my own research into the claims that were being made at the time by the likes of Curry Kirkpatrick, Alexander Wolff, Frank Deford, George Will etc.

What I found was pretty amazing to me. Not only were a lot of the claims being made factually inaccurate, but they were greatly misleading as the numerous positive things which Rupp had done with respect to integration from the 1920's on to the end of his life were largely ignored by the media, if they were aware of them at all.

To me this became more an issue of the media and how they've tried to scape-goat an individual who was a convenient target for them to pass blame for what in reality is an issue that the entire country shares some blame in.

 

[Cat78Scot]

True. FWIW when I came into the Rupp issue in the late 80's I didn't really know much about him other than he won a lot of games at UK and named their arena after him.

To me it was embarrassing to see national sportswriters drag UK's basketball program through the mud because it was associated with him. I could have buried my head in the sand and just tried to disassociate myself from Rupp altogether, like I know a lot of younger UK fans have done.

But before I did that, I actually took the step to do my own research into the claims that were being made at the time by the likes of Curry Kirkpatrick, Alexander Wolff, Frank Deford, George Will etc.

What I found was pretty amazing to me. Not only were a lot of the claims being made factually inaccurate, but they were greatly misleading as the numerous positive things which Rupp had done with respect to integration from the 1920's on to the end of his life were largely ignored by the media, if they were aware of them at all.

To me this became more an issue of the media and how they've tried to scape-goat an individual who was a convenient target for them to pass blame for what in reality is an issue that the entire country shares some blame in.

You have provided an invaluable service to Rupp and UK by doing this Jon. I always thought that, after his retirement, if Tubby took up this fight using your research, we may finally make some progress in clearing Rupp's/UK's name and Tubby would smooth some rough edges that resulted from the end of his tenure.

Additionally, it's disgustingly ironic that UNC continue to operate under a mist of 'The Carolina Way' and play one of the good guys (along with any other major programs other than UK) when they were performing academic fraud for 20+ years by cheating mostly black players out of the education they were supposed to be receiving in return for their attendance at and playing for the school. That is more racist than anything UK has ever done!

 

[clevenger32]

not true..I was on that Seneca team as Manager ..We ate together every meal in Lexington..

I stand corrected I had been told that over the years and had even read that about Unseld.

 

[Bert Higginbotha]

He honestly thought that he was going to get Butch Beard from Breckenridge County, and also Jim Rose from Hazard. Someone scared both young men away from UK, to Louisville and Western Ky.
Considering several state universities WKU, UofL, EKU, Morehead, Murray State integrated years before UK, does not put Rupp into a good light.

I attended WKU from 1964-68. WKU, EKU, Morehead and Murray State was in the OVC and UofL was in the MVC. Not one school in those two conferences went south of the Tennessee border.

On the other hand, I suggest before you put out aspersions like the ones highlighted above you go to Jon Scott's site and read up on the death threats that Rupp received. Middle Tennessee and Missouri was a lot different in the 1960's than Tuscaloosa, Baton Rouge, Starksville and Oxford.

I don't mean to be nasty but your statements are part of the problem. Understand what history was before you make false statements.

 

[CloverforkCat]

I attended WKU from 1964-68. WKU, EKU, Morehead and Murray State was in the OVC and UofL was in the MVC. Not one school in those two conferences went south of the Tennessee border.

On the other hand, I suggest before you put out aspersions like the ones highlighted above you go to Jon Scott's site and read up on the death threats that Rupp received. Middle Tennessee and Missouri was a lot different in the 1960's than Tuscaloosa, Baton Rouge, Starksville and Oxford.

I don't mean to be nasty but your statements are part of the problem. Understand what history was before you make false statements.

I am well aware of how the deep south was during the 1960's. I also know that Oscar Robertson and Cincinnati played in Houston in the late 1950's, and a black cat was placed in the Big O's locker. Vanderbilt beat UK to the punch by recruiting Perry Wallace in'66. Rupp could have had UK be 1st in Basketball, like Bradshaw did in football.
What problem are you speaking of ? Rupp died in 1977, and tho he eventually did recruit Tom Payne, he could have integrated the team 4 or 5 years earlier !

 

[Bert Higginbotha]

I am well aware of how the deep south was during the 1960's. I also know that Oscar Robertson and Cincinnati played in Houston in the late 1950's, and a black cat was placed in the Big O's locker. Vanderbilt beat UK to the punch by recruiting Perry Wallace in'66. Rupp could have had UK be 1st in Basketball, like Bradshaw did in football.
What problem are you speaking of ? Rupp died in 1977, and tho he eventually did recruit Tom Payne, he could have integrated the team 4 or 5 years earlier !

He would have inked several if they were not scared to play UK and go to the deep south. Sorry, I lived though those times and spent the summers '64 and '65 in an area that the KKK loved to beat the shit out of blacks.

I don't blame those black kids for refusing to go to UK. Beard and Unsel were not stupid.

 

[2Adulterers]

I am well aware of how the deep south was during the 1960's. I also know that Oscar Robertson and Cincinnati played in Houston in the late 1950's, and a black cat was placed in the Big O's locker. Vanderbilt beat UK to the punch by recruiting Perry Wallace in'66. Rupp could have had UK be 1st in Basketball, like Bradshaw did in football.
What problem are you speaking of ? Rupp died in 1977, and tho he eventually did recruit Tom Payne, he could have integrated the team 4 or 5 years earlier !

The SEC was segregated til 1967..Perry Wallace was the first..Rupp recruited him.Rupp recruited every name black star..Butch Beard..Jim McDaniels..Jerome Perry Wes Unseld what more can you ask for..Reality is Payne wanted to come the rest didn't. he did a good job..some folks just are not happy.

 

[ccukuk]

I just love all the geniuses that try and apply todays set of standards on ANYONE of that time.It's nothing but self serving bullish*t, and half of these types that do it wouldn't have lived up to it then either. It's just ignorance, and a lack of understanding civilizations and societies in time. Most people that do it conjure it up because it's politically beneficial anyway, they don't actually believe half of the crap they're saying .

Rupp was a product of the time just like all the other coaches, and there's plenty of evidence to support he actually tried to break some barriers. Because his name is Adolph, he's the coach of a southern state, and 1966 was a great story line for certain social and political types, it all gets misconstrued.

And it's purposely done for a reason.

"And it's purposely done for a reason." That sentence is a masterpiece.

 

[JPScott]

I stand corrected I had been told that over the years and had even read that about Unseld.

Unseld has been quoted as saying the following:

"I also remember that I couldn't eat in the restaurant across the street from our hotel because they didn't serve black people. That sort of bothered me. That sort of thing might have been going on in Louisville at the same time, but I didn't know about it if it was."

So you both may be right [i.e. the team may have had their meals with no problems yet Unseld may have tried to eat outside the hotel on his own and ran into issues (or possibly he was told that he wouldn't be able to eat there without actually testing it)] One would have to ask Unseld about the specifics of this.

Keep in mind what I said above, Rupp set up in the early 1950's an agreement with the leading hotels in Lexington at the time (the Phoenix and the Lafayette) that they would allow registered black guests in their hotels and their coffee shops/restaurants. This was key because Kentucky was one of the very few schools in the South who were hosting integrated teams.

Some may remember that in 1961 there was a controversy when the Boston Celtics and St. Louis Hawks were in town for an exhibition. As they were checking in a few of the black players strolled over to the Phoenix Hotel coffee shop and according to reports the waitress asked them if they were registered. The players apparently didn't respond and took it that they wouldn't be able to be served, so they left. They ended up informing Bill Russell who decided to leave town and boycott the game without even really knowing what happened, despite the hotel manager desperately trying to explain that they certainly could be served there.

As far as Unseld's claim, I don't know the details of what businesses were open to blacks and which ones were still segregated at that time. I'm sure there were some that were closed to blacks, but certainly not all. Same could be said for Louisville.

That soon changed, however, as not long afterwards the 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed which assured accommodations etc. by public businesses for all people regardless of race.

 

[Estil]

True. FWIW when I came into the Rupp issue in the late 80's I didn't really know much about him other than he won a lot of games at UK and named their arena after him.

In those pre-Internet days though no one seriously questioned the major news outlets, including SI, because well, they never heard any different and had very little reason to think otherwise. I for one am VERY grateful that we can easily do our own research, just like how I found out that the famous 1966 TexWes game was not an upset at all (KY was #1 ranked with one loss, TexWes was #2 with one loss going into the tournament). And isn't wrongly calling it an upset kinda doing TexWes a disservice? Making it sound like they were some lucky fluke or something