Will talk about his book and career, next year’s UK hoops team
Jack “Goose” Givens says he won’t divulge too much of what he’ll speak about during his talk and book signing in Henderson Saturday, but he did offer some teasers of what attendees can expect.
Givens has been making stops to promote his book, “They Call Me Goose: My Life in Kentucky Basketball and Beyond,” which was published earlier this year. Henderson will be the first stop in the western part of the commonwealth Givens has been to promote his book, he said in a recent phone interview with the Hendersonian.
The event is free and open to the public. It will be 2-4 p.m. Saturday, July 13, at the Preston Arts Center on the campus of Henderson Community College.
He said he’ll most likely start out his appearance talking about the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team and prospects for next season. Givens works as a color commentator for the UK Sports Network calling basketball games with Tom Leach.
Of what he’s seen of the team new coach Mark Pope has put together, he likes.
“I’m really excited to have him as the coach,” Givens said, adding Pope has done a great job hiring his coaching staff. “And the team he’s put together—it’s going to be a really good team.”
Givens also noted that some of the new programs and activities that Pope has instituted are exciting, especially those involving former UK players.
Givens will also speak about his book, which he co-wrote with San Diego-based journalist Doug Brunk. The book details Givens’ life. He was born in Lexington and raised in a low-income downtown housing project. He said there was a 10-foot-tall fence with barb wire on top of it that separated the white side from the Black side of the neighborhood.
He’ll also talk about his basketball days at Bryan Station High School and how he didn’t think he’d attend UK, but instead the University of Tennessee. But of course, that didn’t happen as any UK basketball fan knows. Givens became one of the first African Americans to don a UK jersey when he signed with the Wildcats in 1974.
Givens led the Wildcats to the 1978 national championship, scoring 41 points in the 94-88 victory in the final against Duke. He finished his career as a three-time All Southeastern Conference selection and a Second Team All-American. Givens went on to play in the NBA and overseas in Japan.
So far, Givens said his book signings have been well-received. He’s held events in Lexington and Louisville and has later stops scheduled for Cincinnati and Paducah. The book came out in March, so “we’re just getting started with this,” he said.
The book is published by the University of Kentucky Press, a blessing, Givens said, because the press has contact information for all the UK alumni associations. He’ll visit those associations in the coming months and throughout the men’s hoops team’s season as it travels to different cities around the country.
“The great thing is Kentucky fans travel everywhere,” he said, adding each event thus far has been “well-received and amazing.”
“At every location, we’ve sold out of books,” he said.