Local University of Kentucky basketball fans are in for a treat. Kentucky basketball legend Jack “Goose” Givens will be visiting the Pike County Library, 126 Lee Avenue (across from Buffalo Wild Wings) on Thursday, February 13th from 6 – 7:30 pm to share stories and sign his book “The Call Me Goose.”
Givens, who was the 1978 Final Four Most Outstanding Player, cemented himself in Wildcat history with a 41-point performance in a 94-88 over Duke in the NCAA National Championship game to give Kentucky its 5th championship.
Givens collaborated on the book with author Doug Brunk who had previously written other books on UK basketball, including one about the 1978 championship team. Givens was initially hesitant to write a book, but when COVID slowed down everything, Brunk approached him again and Givens decided that it was a good time to get started.
“We kind of walked through my childhood years – growing up one of ten kids in a three-bedroom housing project in downtown Lexington,” said Givens. “Sometimes we were standing in the food line getting government cheese and government cereal. We never went without food, but we sometimes didn’t know what it would be. So, we walked through those years.
“From there, we went on to talk about how I became a Wildcat and how difficult that decision was because of all the time before me when black players were not wanted or recruited at the University of Kentucky,” he continued. “We didn’t have that kind of opportunity. My family was all against me going to the University of Kentucky because we weren’t just wanted there. It took a lot to change that way of thinking as well. There’s no question that I made the right choice. There’s no question it worked out very well. Thank goodness Coach (Joe B.) Hall came when he did and made a big time effort to integrate the program.”
The book will also speak about Givens’ time at Kentucky, playing in the NBA, his broadcasting career on television and radio as well as the ups and downs in his life.
Givens hopes that people will be able to get a better understanding of him by reading the book and perhaps take some inspiration from it. He mentions that has family and faith have brought him through a lot and wants to share that with people.
“If you have faith in the Lord and believe that you will always be better, you can always overachieve,” he said. “You can always persevere through very difficult times if you just believe you can make it. That’s the only reason I made it through difficult times. So, if I can encourage one person who reads the book to hang in there and remain faithful – you can have a chance to enjoy a very successful and happy life. There are a lot of kids who face all kinds of adversity, whether it’s poverty or being in what seems to be a dead end situation. If I can encourage one kid, I think it’s all worth it.”
Givens says he is excited to come Pikeville to meet some of the most passionate Kentucky basketball teams in the state.
“What I have found out through the years is that the further away you get away from Lexington, the stronger it seems the support and love for Kentucky basketball is,” Givens explained. “That’s not to say there’s not great support in Lexington because there is, but man when you get out into the state to Pikeville, Prestonsburg or Jenkins – you get to places like that and the support of the Kentucky program is as strong as anywhere else in the state. I love going to the smaller towns and meet new people.”
Givens encourages everyone to be there right at 6 pm so that fans can hear his thoughts on Kentucky basketball and the current team and where the program is headed under current head coach Mark Pope. He’ll then talk about the book before taking questions from fans in attendance.
“Really, that first 30 minutes is the fun time of the event,” added Givens. “UK basketball fans all have stuff they want to know and questions they want to ask. It’s a fun exchange going back and forth with the fans, so I encourage people to come out early and get a seat. I’m just looking forward to being in Pikeville again and meeting all of Big Blue Nation down that way.”
