Jack Givens
Jack "Goose" Givens is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Wildcats men's basketball|Kentucky Wildcats], earning consensus second-team All-American honors. He led the team to the 1978 NCAA Men's [Division I Basketball Championship] and was named that year's Final Four NCAA [basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player|Most Outstanding Player] due in most part to his 41-point performance in Kentucky's 94–88 victory over Duke in the championship game. He was a, forward. Givens played professionally for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association. He also played overseas in Japan.
Biography
Collegiate career
Givens earned Kentucky Mr. Basketball and Parade All-American honors after his senior year at Lexington's Bryan Station High School in 1974. In his freshman year at the University of Kentucky, the Wildcats finished as national runners-up, falling 92–85 to UCLA in the 1975 Final Four championship game. In 1978, Givens and Kentucky returned to the Final Four at the Checkerdome in St. Louis, Missouri. After leading Kentucky to a semifinal victory over the Arkansas, he scored a career-high 41 points and made 18 of 27 field goal attempts against Duke to help Kentucky clinch their fifth NCAA Championship in men's basketball.Givens lettered four times in varsity basketball from 1974–75 to 1977–78. In that span, he scored 2,038 points in 123 games, ranking third on the school's all-time scoring list. He was named first team all-Southeastern Conference three times from 1976 to 1978 and was a consensus second-team All-American in 1978. Kentucky retired Givens' #21 jersey and a banner in his honor hangs in the rafters of Rupp Arena, Kentucky's home court.