Making the Most of Your men’s Basketball
J
a Havens took the reins as the sixth head coach for the men’s basketball team at East Central University in 2013. “Becoming a head coach at the collegiate level has long been a goal of mine,” said Ja Havens. “And I have patiently waited for the ‘perfect’ opportunity. I am confident that this position at East Central University is that opportunity. It is an honor to walk in Coach (Jerry) Anderson and Coach (Wayne) Cobb’s footsteps. They were both household names, as my father played for Coach Anderson and I had the opportunity to play against Coach Cobb. I have tremendous respect for the Tiger program.” Havens took over the team at the end of the recruiting season in 2013, and managed to navigate the team down a successful journey. The Tigers finished 15-12 overall, their first winning season since 2007-08, improving from an 8-18 mark in 2012-13. The 2013-14 ECU team was the first Tiger team to earn a spot in the Great American Conference Tournament after being the only team to not advance to the tournament in the first two seasons of the conference. The Tigers fell in the quarterfinals to the eventual champion (Harding), but they had accomplished something a men’s basketball team had not done since 2002-03 — advancing to a post season conference tournament. Havens has had a hand in every aspect of college basketball coaching. He was exposed to basketball at a very early age, as his father is legendary high school coach Jerry Havens. Jerry has been a coach for 38 years and has been inducted into the Oklahoma Coaches Association Hall of Fame, Oklahoma Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame and National High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Havens was born in Stillwater, Okla., and grew up in Dallas, Texas, so Texoma has been a key recruiting area throughout his coaching career. Prior to ECU, Havens had spent eight years as the assistant basketball coach at Drury University, which claimed the 2013 NCAA DII National Championship. He helped the Panthers to five Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division Championships and two tournament championships. Drury had great success in the NCAA, advancing to the NCAA DII Tournament six times and going 173-68 in the eight years he spent with the program. Before moving to Drury, he spent four seasons at the University of Tulsa as an assistant coach and director of 40 The Columns
basketball operations. The Golden Hurricanes earned two Western Athletic Conference championships during his tenure and advanced to the second round of the NCAA DI Tournament. From 1999-2001, Havens was a graduate assistant coach at Northeastern State, when the RiverHawks claimed two straight Lone Star Conference North Division Championships and advanced to the regional semifinals of the NCAA DII tournament. Havens started his coaching career at St. Gregory’s in 1998 and helped the team improve from a six-win season in 1997-98 to 14 in 1998-99. Before starting his coaching career, Havens played for two seasons at Northeastern State (1996-98) and was named to the LSC All-Academic Team. He spent his first two seasons at St. Gregory’s (1994-96) and was named a NJCAA Distinguished Academic All-American. Havens’ wife Angie is an occupational therapist who also played at St. Gregory’s and Northeastern State. Both had the opportunity during their collegiate careers to play in the Kerr Activities Center. The couple has three sons: Trey, Trent and Ty, and one daughter, Tatum.
2014-15 men’s Basketball schedule DATE 11/14 11/15 11/20 11/22 11/25 11/28 11/29 12/4 12/6 12/15 12/16 12/19 1/3 1/8 1/10 1/15 1/17 1/22 1/24 1/31 2/5 2/7 2/12 2/14 2/19 2/21 2/26 2/28 3/4-8
TIGER BASKETBALL vs Southwest Minnesota (GAC/NSIC Tourn) vs Wayne State College (GAC/NSIC Tourn) at Arkansas-Monticello* at Henderson State* VS ROGERS STATE* vs Missouri Western State (Drury Classic) vs Cameron University (Drury Classic) VS SOUTHWESTERN OKLA. STATE* at Northwestern Okla. State* VS COLLEGE OF FAITH VS HILLSDALE BAPTIST COLLEGE VS SOUTHWESTERN ADVENTIST at Southern Nazarene* VS SOUTHERN ARKANSAS* VS OUACHITA BAPTIST* at Harding* at Arkansas Tech* VS SOUTHEASTERN OKLA. STATE* VS NORTHWESTERN OKLA. STATE* at Southwestern Okla. State* VS HENDERSON STATE* VS ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO* at Southern Arkansas* at Ouachita Baptist* VS ARKANSAS TECH* VS HARDING* at Southeastern Okla. State* VS SOUTHERN NAZARENE* at GAC Tournament
TIME 7:30 pm 3:00 pm 7:30 pm 3:00 pm 7:30 PM 1:00 pm 1:00 pm 7:30 PM 3:00 pm 7:00 PM 7:00 PM 12:00 PM 3:00 pm 7:30 PM 3:00 PM 7:30 pm 3:00 pm 7:30 PM 3:00 PM 3:00 pm 7:30 PM 3:00 PM 7:30 pm 3:00 pm 7:30 PM 3:00 PM 7:30 pm 7:30 PM TBA
