How much was Don Haskins worth?
| Net Worth: | $2 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Basketball Coach |
| Date of Birth: | March 14, 1930 |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | Unknown |
About Don Haskins
“The Bear” Donald Lee Haskins, an American basketball player and coach, lived from March 14, 1930, to September 7, 2008. His estimated net worth was $2 million. Coach Don Haskins is best known for being the captain of the 1966 Texas Western team, which defeated heavily-favored (and all-white) Kentucky to win the National Championship. The squad’s starting five were all African Americans. However, Haskins would be regarded as one of the all-time greats even without that groundbreaking victory.
His 38-year coaching career, which he spent exclusively at Texas-El Paso, included 719 victories, 14 trips to the NCAA Tournament, seven WAC titles, and a team so noteworthy that it served as the basis for a Disney film.
The greatest coach in Division I history, according to Dan Wetzel, a journalist for CBS Sportsline and co-author of the book Glory Road, was Haskins in 2001. Wetzel emphasized Haskins’ success despite little resources, little media coverage, and a small recruiting base.
On September 7, 2008, Haskins passed away, exactly one year to the day after his 1966 Miners were inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
1966 Champions
I certainly did not anticipate making a significant impact on race or the world.
-Don Haskins, the coach, from his book Glory Road
Perhaps he hadn’t anticipated it. “I just wanted to put my best five guys on the court.” Haskins told reporters after his 1966 Miners defeated Kentucky in the national championship game.
Racist sentiments about black baseball players were shockingly prevalent at the time. The first African American to play basketball in the SEC, Perry Wallace of Vanderbilt, explained that “Whites then thought that if you put five blacks on the court at the same time, they would somehow revert to their native impulses.”
The victory was made all the more remarkable by the fact that the opponent, famous Adolph Rupp’s all-white Kentucky, the dominant team in collegiate basketball at the time, was the opponent.
Glory Road
Glory Road, written by Haskins and partner Dan Wetzel, tells the tale of the 1966 World Championship squad. The 2006 film with the same name, starring Josh Lucas as Haskins and Jon Voight as Adolph Rupp, was based on that novel.
In 1997, as a basketball coach, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Don Haskins had a net worth of $2 million at the time of his passing in 2008. On September 7, 2007, the same Hall of Fame inducted his 1966 team as a whole.
- Team:
- Texas Western / University of Texas – El Paso Miners
- The university changed its name from Texas Western College to the University of Texas at El Paso in 1967.
- Career Record:
- 719-353
- Coaching Tree:
- Tim Floyd (USC), Nolan Richardson
- Great Players:
- Nate Archibald, Tim Hardaway, Antonio Davis
- National Championships:
- 1966 National Champions
- Other Honors:
- Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005
- His 1966 National Champions were inducted — as a team — in 2007
