Willie cager biography
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'He loved El Paso': Friends, family celebrate life of UTEP legend Willie Cager
- Willie Cager was a historic 1966 men's basketball NCAA championship team member, the first team with an all-Black starting lineup to win the NCAA championship.
Full of love, spirit, confidence, and forever a part of sports history. That was the theme Friday night at the Don Haskins Center in a celebration of life for an adopted son of El Paso, Willie Cager.
Cager, who grew up in the Bronx, New York, helped put UTEP (Texas Western in 1966) and El Paso on the map March 19, 1966, when he and his Miners teammates won the 1966 NCAA basketball national championship, 72-65, against Kentucky.
The 1966 team was the first national champion in NCAA history to feature an all-Black starting lineup.
Last month on the 57th anniversary of the national title win, Cager died at the age of 81, leaving behind a beautiful legacy.
Cager lived the rest of his life in El Paso and regularly attended Miner men's and women'
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Glory Road (film)
2006 American sports drama film by James Gartner
Glory Road is a 2006 American sportsdrama film directed by James Gartner, based on a true story surrounding the events leading to the 1966 NCAA University Division Basketball Championship. Don Haskins portrayed by Josh Lucas, head coach of Texas Western College (now known as University of Texas at El Paso or UTEP), coached a team with an all-black starting lineup, a first in NCAA history. Glory Road explores racism, discrimination and student athletics. Supporting actors Derek Luke and Jon Voight also star in principal roles.
The film was a co-production between the motion picture studios of Walt Disney Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Texas Western Productions, and Glory Road Productions. It was commercially distributed by Buena Vista Pictures theatrically and by the Buena Vista Home Entertainment division for the video rental market. It premiered in theaters nationwide in the United States on January
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Willie Cager
American basketball player (1942–2023)
William Cager Jr. (August 24, 1942 – March 19, 2023) was an American college basketball player for the Texas Western Miners (now UTEP Miners). He was a member of their 1966 team that won the 1966 NCAA Basketball Championship. He was coached bygd the ingång of Fame coach Don Haskins.[1][2] Texas Western started an all-black starting lineup, against the all-white University of Kentucky.[3] In Texas Western's championship game victory, Cager had eight points and six rebounds.[4] The school's website describes him as "A skilled low post player" during his career.[4] Raised in New York City, Cager was nicknamed "Scoops".[5] He suffered from a heart murmur during the 1965–66 season; when he recovered enough to play, Texas Western was forced to use him sparingly, in four-minute shifts.[6] After playing at Texas Western, Cager was drafted bygd the Baltimore Bullets in th