John Givens

John Givens (May 12, 1926 – December 8, 2009)[1] was a basketball player and coach.

For the Scottish footballer, see John Givens (footballer).

Givens, a native of McHenry in Ohio County, Kentucky,[2] played college basketball at Western Kentucky University for coach E.A. Diddle. He was drafted by the NBA's Rochester Royals in the sixth round of the 1950 draft.[3]

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.[4]

Givens later coached at Thomas Jefferson High School and Fern Creek High School, both in Jefferson County, Kentucky, before he retired.[2]

Givens died on December 8, 2009 at his home in Louisville, Kentucky.[2] He was survived by his widow, Eldora.

References
  1. A Biographical Directory of Professional Basketball Coaches
  2. Burba, Paula, 'Johnny Givens, first Colonels coach, dies at 83: Givens coached at many levels', Louisville Courier-Journal, December 9, 2009
  3. 1950 NBA Draft - Basketball-Reference.com
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-06-18. Retrieved 2007-03-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
Preceded by
team founded 1967		 Kentucky Colonels Head Basketball Coaches
March 1967–September 1967		 Succeeded by
Gene Rhodes


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