SPRINGDALE — Ted Owens ’ Kansas Jayhawks had already been down a similar road when Texas Western’s basketball team paved its “Glory Road” path to its historic 1966 national championship.

“In 1960 we were starting four black players at Kansas, and none of us were trying to prove a cause of any kind,” Owens told the crowd Tuesday at the Northwest Arkansas Tip-Off Club luncheon. “We were trying to win basketball games. We went after the best players who we could go after.”

Owens found plenty during his coaching career.

Owens is the second all-time winningest coach at Kansas, trailing only the great Phog Allen. He won more games than Roy Williams, more than the man known as the inventor of basketball, Dr. James Naismith.

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Owens, still sharp at 77 and an investment adviser in Tulsa, went to two Final Fours and seven NCAA Tournaments in his 19 years at Kansas. But even losses in national semifinal games to UCLA in 1971 and Marquette in 1974 weren’t as disappointing as a loss to Texas Western in 1966.

Texas Western, now known as UTEP, shook the college basketball world that season when the Miners beat Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament championship game. In an unprecedented move, which was immortalized by the 2006 hit movie Glory Road, the Miners started five black players against an all-white Kentucky team in the championship game that is considered a milestone because of its social impact on college basketball.

But before Texas Western ever got its shot at Kentucky, it had to get past Owens’ Jayhawks in the Midwest Regional final in Lubbock, Texas. Kansas had three black starters — All-American Jo Jo White, Al Lopes and Walter Wesley — and were ranked No. 4 in the country, two spots behind Texas Western.

“In my mind, they were the two best teams in basketball,” said Owens of the Jayhawks and the Miners. “It was a fight the whole game. [Miners Coach ] Don Haskins had done an incredible job in a short period of time putting together a great team.”

The game was a classic, but not lacking controversy. Texas Western won 81-80 in double overtime, but Kansas came within a foot — literally — of sending the Miners home.

With Owens’ good friend, El Paso native and former Texas Western star Nolan Richardson listening, Owens gave his side of the story Tuesday.

“How many of you saw Glory Road ?” Owens asked the audience, most of whom raised hands. “Now I’ll tell you the truth. I’ll tell you why there never should have been a Glory Road.”

At the end of the f irst overtime in a tie game, White was closely defended along the sideline and threw up a prayer 30-foot shot that swished through the net as time expired. Kansas players rushed the floor thinking they were Final Four bound.

White, though, was whistled for stepping out of bounds, which nullified the shot. The movie showed White’s sneaker touching the line, sending the game into a second overtime.

“Maybe he pivoted, but his heel never came down. It did break the plain [of the end line ] and never did [hit ],” Owens said. “If you ask anybody in Lawrence, Kan., no, he never stepped out. I ran into Don Haskins at an airport a few months after that and he said Jo Jo was out by a good yard.”

Still, Owens has no regrets about his life in basketball. He was a star college player at Oklahoma, then went on to carve his own niche in Kansas’ coaching tree that began with Naismith and Allen and has evolved into successful stints by Larry Brown, Williams and now Bill Self.

“To be in that company was a great privilege,” Owens said. Ted Owens glance NAME Ted Owens AGE 77 HOMETOWN Hollis, Okla., now living in Tulsa ALMA MATER Oklahoma, played basketball for the Sooners from 1949-51 COACHING HIGHLIGHTS Went 348-182 in 19 seasons as Kansas’ coach, and is the school’s second all-time winningest coach behind Phog Allen.... Defeated Arkansas 65-60 at Barnhill Arena in his first game with the Jayhawks on Dec. 1, 1964.... Took Kansas to Final Four in 1971 and 1974. Went to seven NCAA Tournaments and won the Big Eight Conference regular season or conference tournament championship 15 times.... Coached five All-Americans at Kansas: Jo Jo White, Darnell Valentine, Dave Robisch, Bud Stallworth and Walter Wesley.... Before leaving after the 1983 season, recruited and coached three key Jayhawks players on Coach Larry Brown’s 1986 Final Four team: Greg Dreiling, Ron Kellogg and Calvin Thompson.