Final Fourfather
Coach Don Haskins changed the pace and race of college basketball.
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Although UTEP has struggled recently, in part due to probation caused by minor NCAA violations (one violation concerned the visiting of a recruit too early, which Haskins says he did because the player’s grandmother had to go to work and she wanted to speak with the coach herself), Haskins still enjoys coaching and plans to do so as long as he can.
In the 37 years that Don Haskins has coached the University of Texas at El Paso Miners, nearly every aspect of our society has changed. We now take it for granted that, as our favorite schools chase the coveted national title, the best athletes—without regard to race—will be played by coaches who also enjoy this equal opportunity.
This month, it is coach Tubby Smith who will lead his first University of Kentucky basketball team into the 1998 NCAA Tournament. And if things go well, the Wildcats will be making yet another Final Four appearance when the big dance rolls into San Antonio. Smith is a well respected coach with an outstanding record and very deserving of one of college sports most coveted jobs. But, at least to some small degree, he has a Texan known as The Bear to thank for his new job. Tubby Smith is black, and although a man’s race is no longer a factor in his ability to become head basketball coach at the University of Kentucky, Haskins can remember when the school, and many others, would not even allow non-white athletes to wear a uniform.
Don Haskins won’t be taking his team to this year’s Final Four, but close inspection will find him in the audience of the Alamadome, watching a championship game playing out 32 years after he made the fateful decision to start five black players. Due in large part to the UTEP coach hidden in the stands, racial diversity on the court in San Antonio will be, thankfully, in plain view.
The Host with the Most
How San Antonio brought the NCAA Championship to Texas
After trying to land the NCAA basketball championship for nearly a decade, the San Antonio Local Organizing Committee (SALOC) has finally succeeded in its quest to bring the Final Four to South Texas. San Antonio attempted to lure the NCAA to town several times before last year’s Midwest Regional (the Sweet 16) round. In 1989, the city was denied its request for the 1992 Women’s Championship. But in the summer of 1993 San Antonio found out it would be the host for the 1998 men’s Final Four, and SALOC has been planning for the big dance ever since.
Bill Hancock, Director of Division I Men’s Basketball Championship Administration, said San Antonio rated highly in each category that the basketball committee examines when selecting a site. The four factors the committee looks at are lodging, the game facility, transportation, and the host city’s ability to administer the championship based on NCAA guidelines.
In addition, Hancock said, “Not being known as a basketball hotbed may have helped San Antonio’s case, because the committee likes to take the event to new places.” The city also benefited from hosting preliminary rounds in the past.
“We had a great dry run with the Midwest Regional last year that helped us plan for the Final Four,” said Sandra Lopez, Director of the Local Organizing Committee. That experience with hosting thousands of basketball junkies should pay off this year. During the Midwest Regional, SALOC was able to learn how to deal with traffic, lodging, NCAA requirements, and administration problems caused by March Madness.
Over the past year, members from the NCAA selection committee have been traveling to San Antonio for two or three days each month to plan the event. “I fell in love with the city,” said Hancock. “And the city and UTSA (University of Texas at San Antonio) have done a great job of working with SALOC to administer the event.”
Lopez said the NCAA has been very helpful in planning the event. “They don’t leave any gray areas,” she said, “Their manual leaves nothing to chance.” SALOC has also organized an almost endless array of basketball festivities to coincide with the Final Four. All-star games, slam-dunk contests, coaching clinics, and the NCAA’s Hoop City will all be available for fans who just can’t get enough basketball.
The capacity of the Alamodome will be expanded from its normal basketball capacity to 40,500 for the Final Four. The extra seats will be retractable temporary seats in the southeast corner of the Alamodome. Hancock is looking forward to an exciting weekend of basketball. “Maybe San Antonio will become a basketball hotbed after the Final Four,” he said. Nothing would make Lopez happier. San Antonio has already been named host of the 2002 Women’s Basketball Championship, and if all goes well this year, the city will have a great shot at repeating as host of the Men’s Championship in 2003 or 2004.
March Madness
People have been traveling to San Antonio for years for all types of entertainment, but not often have they visited the River City to watch basketball. (Read Hoop Scoop, 1983)
That’s all about to change, because March Madness is coming to Texas. San Antonio is host to the 1998 NCAA Men’s Final Four Championship, the nation’s grandest amateur sporting event. The three games, to be played March 28-30, will each attract 40,500 rabid fans to the Alamodome and thousands more to the city who just want to be part of the atmosphere for America’s greatest sports weekend. What in the name of Shamu are 150,00 basketball junkies going to do in San Antonio? Rest assured, hoops fans, Alamo city is going to be transformed into a basketball mecca for the Final Four, and few cities in America can entertain visitors like San Antonio can. The local Final Four organizing committee, through cooperation with the NCAA, has created an impressive list of basketball activities, including slam-dunk contests, coaching clinics, and the NCAA’s Hoop City — something for fans of all ages to enjoy.
The 2010 Final Four will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, In.
Tickets can be purchased at ticketmaster.com or stubhub.comThe 2011 Final Four will be held at Reliant Stadium in Houston.
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