Carril, Haskins Find Common Ground In Shrine Two Coaches Who Changed The Face Of College Basketball Lead Way Into Hoop Hall

Before Pete Carril ever fashioned the mad-scientist look from his seat on the Princeton bench, he watched Don Haskins nervously pace the sideline.

“I saw the game in a tavern,” he said of Texas Western’s monumental victory over Kentucky in the 1966 NCAA championship game. “Nobody had any idea how big that would become then.”

A year later, Carril took the head coaching job at Princeton and presided over an Ivy League program devoid of scholarships but loaded with back-door screens and memorable upsets.

For starting five black players against Adolph Rupp’s all-white Wildcats, Haskins was credited with revolutionizing college basketball. For sticking to the fundamentals, Carril was credited with preserving college basketball. Their paths crossed Monday at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Carril, rumpled appearance notwithstanding, and Haskins, who wore a tuxedo for the first time in his life, were enshrined at the Springfield Civic Center along with five others:

Alex English, the sinewy forward and the NBA’s high scorer in the 1980s.

Denise Curry, the former Olympian and UCLA All-American.

Joan Crawford, who powered Nashville Business College to prominence in the 1960s.

Antonio Diaz-Miguel, who coached the Spanish National team from 1965-92.

And Bailey Howell, a former Pistons star, who played with four NBA teams from 1959 to 1971.

“I just played my five best players,” said Haskins, 67, continuing to play down his role in changing the game. “Not one guy asked me about it leading up to the game. Maybe they were afraid. But in my mind, kids were kids, and I had some that could play. The ‘66 thing comes up all the time. But I’d like to think after 36 years or so, I’ve won a few games.”

Haskins, still the coach at the school, now the University of Texas-El Paso, is tied for fifth place among the NCAA’s most successful active coaches (691-326).

Carril, 67, the only Division I coach to record 500 wins (525-273) without ever giving an athletic scholarship, left in 1996 with 13 Ivy League titles and post-season bids. He’s now an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings of the NBA.

Both talked about how the game has changed - for the better and the worse. Carril can’t see why more teams don’t play like the Chicago Bulls, players moving without the ball, in concert.

He believes the game has taken a step backward since he and Haskins began.

“It goes all the way back to grade school, to having teachers and coaches at a young level that stay with kids,” he said. “A good high school coach is the salt of the earth. A college coach and a pro coach can benefit from the work they did. But these summer camps are eroding his value to that kid’s welfare.”