Haskins made basketball history at Texas Western (now University of Texas, El Paso) when he started five African-American players against an all-white squad in his defeat of the University of Kentucky for the 1966 NCAA National Championship. He coached UTEP for 38 seasons and won seven Western Athletic Conference championships, four WAC tournament titles, had fourteen NCAA tournament berths, and made seven trips to the NIT. He served as Assistant Coach to the 1972 USA Olympic Basketball team. The Don Haskins Center, named in his honor and known to fans as "The Don", is home to UTEP Miners basketball.