John Givens died he was 83

John Givens died he was 83. Givens was a basketball player and coach.

Givens, a native of McHenry, Kentucky^[1], played college basketball at Western Kentucky University. He was drafted by the NBA's Rochester Royals in the sixth round of the 1950. He joined the Air Force during World War II, where he also played basketball during his service years. In 1946 he attended Western Kentucky University and became a basketball star. While playing for WKU he was in the Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities. He was a professional player for Sheboygan, WI, Redskins, where he was MVP during the 1950-51 season in the All Professional League while his team won the championship that year. He later played for the Minneapolis Lakers with the great George Mikan.

He then went on to become a high school coach. His coaching career experienced 194

victories and 97 defeats as of 1967. He coached for six schools, New Albany High School, where the team went to two state finals; Marion Indiana High School; Las Vegas, NM; and Highlands University. During the 1964-65 season he was the NAIA District 7 Coach of the Year, at Highlands University; then the Kentucky Colonels Pro-American Basketball Association, where he was the first coach for the Colonels; and finished his career with Thomas Jefferson High School as athletic director and finally, Fern Creek High Schools Girls Basketball. He had influenced a number of students and athletes during his career as teacher and coach.

Givens was a starting guard on the 1950-51 Sheboygan Red Skins of the National Professional Basketball League. The Red Skins finished with the league's best record at 29-16, after which the league dissolved. Givens was one of the league's most electric performers and finished seventh in NPBL scoring with 569 points in 44 games, a 12.9 per-game average.

Givens became the first head coach of the Kentucky Colonels during the American Basketball Association's first season in 1967-1968. Givens also became the first coach in the history of the ABA to be fired, after a 5-12 start. He was replaced as head coach of the Colonels by Gene Rhodes.^[3]

Givens later coached at Thomas Jefferson High School and Fern Creek High School, both in Jefferson County, Kentucky, before he retired.^[4]

Givens died on December 8, 2009 at his home in Louisville, Kentucky.^[5]

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