Gerald Govan (born January 2, 1942) is a retired American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He played nine seasons in the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

(ABA), from 1967 to 1976. Born in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

, Govan played high school basketball at

Henry Snyder High School Academy of the Arts at Henry Snyder High School is a four-year performing arts public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades, located in the Greenville section of Jersey City, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as ...

. He didn't plan to play college ball, thinking he was destined for a factory job, but his high school coach pushed him to apply. A 6'10"

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

from

St. Mary of the Plains College St. Mary of the Plains College was a four-year liberal arts college in Dodge City, Kansas, United States that closed in 1992. It was located on the north side of Dodge City, next to Highway 50. History Soule College The roots of St. Mary of ...

Dodge City, Kansas Dodge City is a city in and the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. It was named after nearby Fort Dodge, which was named in honor of Grenville Dodge. The city ...

, Govan spent the year after his 1964 graduation playing pro ball in Italy. Govan spent nine years in the now-defunct

, playing for the

New Orleans Buccaneers The New Orleans Buccaneers were a charter member of the American Basketball Association. After three seasons in New Orleans, Louisiana, the franchise moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where it became the Memphis Pros, Pros, Memphis Tams, Tams, and Me ...

Memphis Pros Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

Utah Stars The Utah Stars were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround. History prior to moving to ...

and

Virginia Squires The Virginia Squires were a basketball team based in Norfolk, Virginia, and playing in several other Virginia cities. They were members of the American Basketball Association from 1970 to 1976. The team originated in 1967 as the Oakland Oaks, a ...

. He tallied 5,251 career points and 7,119 career rebounds, and he appeared in the 1970 ABA

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

Game. Govan is one of only six players to have participated in each of the original ABA's nine seasons of existence. The others are

Freddie Lewis Frederick L. Lewis (born July 1, 1943) is an American former basketball player. He played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA). He is the only player to start his career in the NBA ...

Byron Beck Byron Beck (born January 25, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6 foot 9 inch forward/ center from the University of Denver, Beck was one of six players (along with Louie Dampier, Gerald Govan, Bob Netolicky, St ...

Stew Johnson Stewart "Stew" Johnson (born August 19, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player. A tall forward/ center from Murray State University, who was born in New York City, Johnson was selected by the New York Knicks in the third ro ...

, Bob Netolicky and

Louie Dampier Louis Dampier (born November 20, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player. He played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA), primarily playing with the Kentucky Colo ...

. Govan appeared in 681 regular season ABA games—4th all-time, and tops among players who never played in the NBA.

Nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

d Go-Go, he was one of the rare basketball players who wore

spectacles Glasses, also known as eyeglasses (American English), spectacles (Commonwealth English), or colloquially as specs, are Visual perception, vision eyewear with clear or tinted lens (optics), lenses mounted in a frame that holds them in front ...

, black-framed glasses in particular. He explained, "I tried

contacts Contact lenses, or simply contacts, are thin lenses placed directly on the surface of the eyes. Contact lenses are ocular prosthetic devices used by over 150 million people worldwide, and they can be worn to correct vision or for cosmetic ...

, but they bothered me. These glasses take away from my aggressiveness. I'm afraid of breaking them because if I do I got to pay for them myself."Carry, Peter. "You make the most with what you got," ''Sports Illustrated'', January 24, 1972.
Retrieved June 20, 2022. Govan, the father of twin daughters, returned to Jersey City after his playing career ended and eventually worked as a

probation officer A probation or parole officer is an official appointed or sworn to investigate, report on, and supervise the conduct of convicted offenders on probation or those released from incarceration to community supervision such as parole. Most probat ...

for 25 years. He occasionally worked alongside fellow probation officer

Bob Hurley Robert Emmet Hurley (born July 31, 1947) is an American basketball coach. At the now-closed St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, New Jersey, Hurley amassed 26 state championships in 39 years as a coach. On February 2, 2011, Hurley became the ...

, the longtime St. Anthony's High School basketball coach.

References

External links

Career stats
a
https://www.basketball-reference.com/
1942 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen ABA All-Stars American men's basketball players Basketball players from Jersey City, New Jersey Centers (basketball) College men's basketball players in the United States Henry Snyder High School alumni Memphis Pros players New Orleans Buccaneers players Power forwards St. Louis Hawks draft picks St. Mary of the Plains College alumni Undrafted ABA players Utah Stars players Virginia Squires players {{1940s-US-basketball-bio-stub