John Givens (May 12, 1926 – December 8, 2009) was an American basketball player and coach.

Boarn and raised in McHenry in Ohio County, Kentucky, Givens 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.

John Givens (basketball)

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.

John Givens (basketball)

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.

John Givens (basketball)

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

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

References

External links

Remember the ABA.com

Basketballreference.com

1926 births

2009 deaths

American men's basketball coaches

Basketball players from Louisville, Kentucky

Kentucky Colonels coaches

People from Ohio County, Kentucky

Rochester Royals draft picks

Sheboygan Red Skins players

Sportspeople from Louisville, Kentucky

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball players

American men's basketball players

Basketball coaches from Kentucky