Former Kentucky basketball great Jack “Goose” Givens took some time Wednesday to virtually join the Owensboro Rotary Club as he touched on this year’s Wildcats, one-and-done and who was the best player and trash talker he ever went up against.
Givens graduated from Bryan Station in 1974 and went on to star at UK, as he was the 1978 NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player that year after dropping 41 points on Duke to help Kentucky win its fifth national championship.
When talking about this year’s squad, Givens said they won’t get something he held dear during his time at UK.
“I think one of the unfortunate things is that these guys do not and have not gotten to experience to go through what I call the Rupp Arena experience,” he said. “I don’t have to tell you all that it’s one of the best basketball facilities and one of the best crowds, if not the best, in the whole country. One reason you come to Kentucky, I’m sure each one of these guys last year got to see what it was like in Rupp Arena with a packed house. Unfortunately, they are missing that.”
He said he hopes the players not only come back to Kentucky next season to get that experience but to also get more time on the floor as well.
When he was a freshman in Lexington, Givens said he looked up to the seniors and it made him better.
“One thing this team is missing that I think is the most important thing in college basketball is to have veteran players on your team with you who can teach you as a young guy how to play,” he said.
With how adamant he is about veteran leadership, Givens said it’s no surprise how he feels about the one-and-done strategy.
“I don’t think I have to tell you I’m not a big fan of one-and-done,” he said. “It’s so different from the way I played. I would challenge any of you on this call to think back three years ago and tell me who the starting lineup was.”
But, he said he does understand the appeal.
“If I’m a freshman and some NBA team takes me in the first round and I know I’ve got money guaranteed that could change my life forever, yeah I’m going to go too,” he said.
He used Anthony Davis as an example and said Davis already has had multiple major contracts since he went to the NBA.
“It doesn’t take a genius to figure out there’s no degree I can get at the university that’s going to pay me that kind of money to go to work,” he said.
When asked about who the best player he ever suited up against, Givens said he could have named a who’s who of NBA greats — and while he did name one of those, it’s not the name most expect.
Givens said former Tennessee Volunteer Bernard King, one half of the Bernie and Ernie duo, was the best player he’s ever played against.
But, the player that talked the most trash? Givens said that was easy.
Larry Bird.
He said he remembered a game where Bird told him the night before the exact plays he would run, down to whether or not he would pump fake when he attempted a 3-pointer. Larry Legend lived up to his nickname, as he did exactly what he told Givens he would do.
Givens also reminisced about playing at the Owensboro Sportscenter during his senior season, where they fell to Owensboro and former Mr. Basketball winner Jerry Thruston.
Givens said he’s already looking forward to his next trip back to Owensboro, but he added he did have one condition that’s vital to his coming to town.
He said if Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn isn’t on the itinerary, he’s not coming.
