Scouting players in the 1960s, Don Haskins identifies himself as the basketball coach of Texas Western University. One befuddled young man asks, "Western Union?"

		'Glory Road' Rating: PG for racial issues, including violence and epithets (use of the N-word) and mild language. Starring: Josh Lucas Director: James Gartner Related article 'Glory Road' actor recruited the real coach

As it turns out, Haskins will send a message to the nation about equal opportunity on the basketball court and beyond. At a time when many superstar athletes are African American, it's easy to forget an era when black players were rejected, marginalized or turned into bench-warmers. Always, there was the threat of harassment or violence.

Disney's "Glory Road" dramatizes how Haskins assembled an integrated team that faced down the all-white Kentucky powerhouse coached by legendary Adolph Rupp. The Texan chose an all-black starting lineup to send a signal to everyone in the bleachers or camped in front of their TVs.

It's a true story that has everything: an underdog coach, a Cinderella team, a player with a bad heart, a David vs. Goliath finale and a history lesson.

"Glory Road" stars Josh Lucas as Haskins, a girls' high school coach hired by Texas Western University (now University of Texas at El Paso) to coach basketball and ride herd over the men's dorm, by living there. "If that's what it takes to coach Division I basketball, that's all right with me," Haskins says, and apparently it's OK with his wife (Emily Deschanel), who packs up the kids.

With no money for conventional recruiting, he looks to the inner cities of Detroit and New York and tries to convince players he is colorblind. "I don't see color. I see quick. I see skill. And that's what I'm putting on the court."

He runs into the usual roadblocks -- racial tension on the squad, boosters who balk, resistance to rules and strategy -- but he molds a winning team. "Glory Road" follows the Texas Western Miners as they improbably climb the rankings and find themselves competing for college's top crown.

If "Glory Road" weren't true, you'd never buy it. But it is and that allows you to forgive its flaws, starting with an overreliance on coach-speak. Lucas delivers his rousing speeches with passion, but didn't the coach ever talk like a regular guy? He refers to his father driving a truck for most of his life and hating his job but that's about it for background. At least he has dialogue; his wife's lines are minimal.

Jon Voight turns up in the small but pivotal role as Rupp, whose disdain for integration is never explored in depth. Rupp, the so-called "baron of bluegrass" who won 875 games in 41 years of coaching, died in 1977.

Portraying the Texas Western Miners are a mix of seasoned actors, athletes and amateurs. "Antwone Fisher" star Derek Luke, recently seen as a running back in "Friday Night Lights," is high-scoring guard Bobby Joe Hill. Damaine Radcliff, who plays forward Willie Cager, was discovered in an open basketball casting call, while Schin A.S. Kerr played ball overseas before being hired as big center David Lattin.

Aided by authentic re-creations of the Miners' uniforms, they look the role and -- to my undiscerning eye when it comes to basketball -- seem to act it, too.

One of the best parts of the movie comes as the credits roll, so don't bolt for the doors. Many of the surviving principals, including Pat Riley who played for the Kentucky Wildcats in 1966, are shown in quickie interviews. Let's hope the DVD allows those chats to breathe a bit.

"Glory Road," directed by James Gartner whose experience is in commercials, makes the racism PG-safe and occasionally descends into corniness, as during a tequila-fortified song in a Mexican bar. It's as if he's making a movie modeled on all of the other sports movies out there. But in the end, speed bumps and all, "Glory Road" is a road worth taking.