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6[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gloryroad_9479.jpg]]
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8''Glory Road'' is an American film directed by James Gartner, released on January 13, 2006.
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10The film is based on a true story dealing with the events leading to the 1966 NCAA University Division Basketball Championship,[[note]]At the time, the NCAA didn't sponsor women's sports (''that'' didn't happen until 1981–82), and the NCAA membership was divided into the University and College Divisions. In 1973, the NCAA adopted its current three-division setup. The University Division became today's Division I, while the College Division was split into Division II (with limited athletic scholarships) and Division III (no such scholarships).[[/note]] in which Don Haskins, head coach of the Texas Western College (now the University of Texas at El Paso) led a team with an all-black starting lineup, a first in NCAA history. The film follows a semi-fictional version of this tale, leading up to the championship game against powerhouse Kentucky and its all-white lineup.
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13!!This film provides examples of:
14* AntiVillain: Coach Rupp is portrayed as being [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation potentially]] racist and a SoreLoser, but has some redeeming traits. He's AFatherToHisMen, speaking encouragingly to his players rather than blowing up at them once they start losing. He doesn't resort to cheating or personal attacks during the game. And he eventually lets black players onto his team, as detailed in the epilogue.
15* BathroomStallOfOverheardInsults: Inverted. As several white coaches and reporters ''inside'' the bathroom stalls make racist comments about the Miners, one of them steps out and sees Haskins standing by the sink with a DeathGlare.
16* DudeWheresMyRespect: Jerry Armstrong in the tumultuous locker room scene following the first loss of the season.
17-->'''Armstrong:'''You think it's easy being on this team? Taking a backseat to you every day? We came here to play basketball, just like you guys! Now it's like we don't even count. WE'RE THE MINORITY!
18* EducationMama: Mrs. Flournoy is excited when her son is admitted to a university to play basketball and flies out to Texas to embarrass him in class upon hearing that he's been falling behind in his studies.
19* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Pre-CharacterDevelopment, trainer Ross Moore feels this way about having more than a token black player or two on a college team.
20--> '''Ross:''' You carrying on like Negroes gonna be the future of basketball. Could you imagine that?
21%%* JackieRobinsonStory
22%%* MiracleRally
23%%* SaveOurTeam
24%%* UnderdogsNeverLose
25* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory; To the point that Texas A&M University-Commerce (East Texas State when the film was set) demanded Disney to apologize for portraying them very negatively.
26** Disney argued that this was a case of AdaptationDistillation; they couldn't show each game where the team had racial slurs thrown at them.
27%%* WhiteMaleLead
28* WhiteMansBurden: A variation - Instead of a single impoverished minority, it's an entire starting lineup.
29* UnderdogsNeverLose: Yes and no. In real life, Texas Western was ranked #2 in the country going into the NCAA tournament, but Texas Western were still perceived as an underdog due to racism and questions about the level of competition they had faced during the season.[[note]]Texas Western, hundreds of miles away from any traditional basketball powers, only played one ranked team before the NCAA tournament (Iowa, which they beat handily).[[/note]] It's generally accepted that racist officials calling their games were often biased against the team because of their all-black starting lineup. Beating all-white Kentucky (ranked #1) is considered a landmark victory for a reason.

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