Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 23, 1992 TAG: 9203230071
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: DAYTON, OHIO LENGTH: Medium
Haskins, the coach with the 10-gallon gut, has 606 victories in 31 seasons at Texas-El Paso. Only one was bigger than Sunday's. That past one was truly Texas-sized.
The last time UTEP reached the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament, there were only 22 teams in the field, not 64. The last time UTEP reached the Sweet 16 - 11 Haskins trips ago - the school was Texas Western College and it won the national championship.
That was 1966, when white was white and black was Negro in college basketball. Haskins put five blacks on the floor and upset Kentucky. The score wasn't significant. The social and historical ramifications were.
The sport and this tournament, like Haskins' hair, have grayed. However, the Miners' NCAA second-round 66-60 victory over Kansas at Dayton Arena reminded many of 26 years ago.
Those Miners had Willie Cager. This team has Gym Bice. The '66 guards, Bobby Joe Hill and Orsten Artis, were small, as are the current Miners backcourt occupants, Prince Stewart and Eddie Rivera.
The champion Miners were mostly big-city players other schools didn't want, players branded, fairly or not, as outlaws. The hometowns of the '92 Miners include New York, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix and Las Vegas, and some carry baggage as transfers or academic deficiencies. The program itself is on NCAA probation without sanctions.
You can go on with the similarities, but the most prominent sameness against the Jayhawks, who were the No. 2 seed in the tournament behind Duke, was Texas-El Paso's tough defense.
Another constant has been Haskins, 61, who learned much of what he preaches when he played for the legendary Henry Iba at Oklahoma A&M. In '66, Haskins stunned Kentucky with defensive pressure. In '92, he shocked Kansas with offensive patience.
Haskins is affectionately known as "The Bear," but Sunday he was as sly as a fox. After he prepared his team for its first four-corners foray of the season, Haskins was seen Saturday night in a Dayton watering hole, gripping a long-neck with gusto.
"All good teams come from a good coach," said Rivera, who said Haskins' growl isn't often grizzly. "When he told us we were going to run a delay before practice, we knew it was our best chance.
"We realize Coach has been through a lot. He's mostly a defensive coach. He really knows defense. When he told us what we were going to do on offense, it was because he really had a feel for Kansas' defense."
Would the Miners have thought about questioning Haskins about a hair-brained scheme?
"Coach is a disciplinarian. People who see him see him joking around and think he's an easy guy. When he speaks, everyone has to listen," Rivera said.
If Haskins is "like a general," as forward Marlon Maxey said, then he's always at ease. Haskins' shirt collar isn't the only thing that's open about his program.
After all of these years, after 868 games as UTEP's coach, numerous Western Athletic Conference titles and 14 NCAA appearances, Haskins must take these big games with typical Texas haughtiness, right?
Well, with 16 seconds left in Sunday's game, Haskins was sitting on the bench, coaching notes in one hand, his head buried in his other hand.
"I never watch the end," he said. "I never do. I never watch free throws. I can't."
The only time a Haskins team won the NCAA title, it beat Kansas and Cincinnati on the way. UTEP gets Cincinnati next.
"By gosh, we did beat them, didn't we?" Haskins said when history was recalled.
Yes, coach, and Kentucky is still alive in the opposite bracket, too.
by CNB