History-Making Athlete to Speak for MLK Day

A talk by barrier-breaking athlete Nevil Shed highlights this year’s UT Dallas celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday.

Shed, who played on the first team to enter an NCAA championship game with an all African-American lineup, is scheduled to speak at a breakfast for UT Dallas students on Jan. 15.  The historic game inspired the 2006 Disney film Glory Road.

The University’s observance of King’s birthday continues that evening with a candlelight walk.

UT Dallas’ Multicultural Center and Student Union Activities Advisory Board are sponsoring Shed’s talk. The breakfast is at 8:30 a.m. in the Student Union Galaxy Room (SU 2.602). Reservations are required.

Reservations for the breakfast had reached capacity Monday afternoon.

Shed was born in New York City. He started college on an athletic scholarship at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University but later transferred to Texas Western College (now called UT El Paso). 

The Texas Western Miners made history by becoming the first team to start an African-American lineup in an NCAA championship game. Shed was one of the starters.

The team defeated Kentucky to win the 1966 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament national title in College Park, Md.

Shed played for the Boston Celtics before an injury cut his career short.  He later became an assistant coach for his college coach, Don Haskins, at Texas Western.

The candlelight walk starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Waterview Phase 8 Clubhouse and ends at the Student Union mall steps.  Participants are asked to bring a canned-food donation.

The walk’s sponsors are UT Dallas Service Learning, the Multicultural Center and Student Union Activities Advisory Board.

Jan. 15 is civil rights hero King’s birthday. The MLK holiday for staff and students will be observed Jan. 21, the same day as the federal holiday.