Photo by: Alison Shaw
There was a whole lot of brawn where the brass section usually sits at the Gates Auditorium in the Newman Center. DU athletes and community members filled the orchestra section and above to attend the motivational speech by basketball legend, Nevil Shed on Jan. 8, as part of Martin Luther King Day’s birthday celebration.
The events of MLK week began with the screening of “Glory Road,” a film based on the true story of the NCAA finals basketball game, in which Shed played for Texas Western Miners.
Since that 1966 game, Shed has had over 60 speaking engagements at universities, elementary schools, churches and corporations.
Shed has been telling his story of overcoming adversity during the civil rights movement and hoping to motivate audiences to actively seek out their own dreams.
“Ma, I’m a national champion,” the first words from Shed’s lips after the Texas Western versus Kentucky College game where the racially mixed Miners took the reigning title away from the all-white Wildcats. Shed used the same the same words begin his energy-infused lecture.
“My road to glory did not end there however,” said Shed, who grew up in the Bronx, encountering challenges and dreaming bigger. “I was a positive person in a negative environment,” said Shed, “and I told myself, ‘When you get a chance, don’t you dare not take advantage of it.”
Texas Western, now University of Texas at El Paso, gave Shed his chance when he was recruited to play under Don Haskins as a Texas Western Miner.
Haskins taught Shed to continuously “bring a new game to the court” and include academics on his list of priorities, Shed said. When the Miners made it to the NCAA Finals in 1966, Haskins made the decision to start an all-black team that included Shed.
Shed was drafted by the Boston Celtics where he played one season before an injury that ended his professional basketball career. Having been prepared for such an event, Shed began teaching the game as a consultant to the San Antonio Spurs.
A meeting with Jerry Brookheimer and Walt Disney would lead to a feature film that opened more opportunities to speak the next generation of athletes.
“What I heard was that you can achieve anything you put your mind to,” said Darek Doyle, a student at Richfield Academy, whose basketball team attended the event. “It made me want to be a good role model for my kids.”
Doyle, who recently saw “Glory Road,” was excited to see the real-life version of the film character he found so inspiring. Doyle, and film critics from the ESPN Awards, saw the quality of the message “Glory Road” depicted.
Shed said that the film was 85 percent accurate. However, the “essence of the game was 107 percent there,” he said. The film aimed to make a statement about the civil rights movement, and took the creative liberty to accentuate aspects that would better convey this theme.
The film successfully brought attention to the inequality of athletics during the time of the Texas Western game, as well as greatly increased publicity for the Miners four decades after the game.
Currently, the Miners have been rumored to be candidates for induction into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame, credited as having changed the era of college athletics.
“March 19 did not change the era of basketball,” said Shed about the publicity the team received after the film. “The era was changed when African Americans were granted the chance to play.”
Shed brings the perspective of other events of the civil rights movement occurring in congruence to the efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s lifetime. “There was so much going on in the country,” said co-chair of the celebration committee, Tracy Peters. “[Other] milestones were taking place in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”
Peters has big dreams for the future of the MLK Week, primarily the establishment of a reputation for DU that ensures an annual MLK event. “Shed is a national figure,” said Peters of their decision to bring Shed to campus. “The story pulled at the heartstrings of Americans.”
In terms of the relevance to MLK Day, Peter said is story reflects perseverance on all levels and shows people coming together for the common good. She said those views as reflective of Dr. King’s aspirations.
Shed’s speech was organized in a series of “Nutritional Facts for Success,” that outlined the values he believes are responsible for his achievements. Faith in Christ, family, knowing where you came from, preparation, execution and follow-through are the nutrients that in “Shed’s recommended daily doses,” that he says will aid in the realization of dreams. Pertaining to the dream of racial equality, Shed said agitation is the key. “Repeat it so many times that people see the validity in it,” said Shed. “say it over and over again”
Just as King’s dream lives on, Shed does not feel that his road to glory is near complete either. “I will never walk away with the ‘good-bye syndrome’. What I use is ‘to be continued’. That is what life is all about,” he said.
