John Ray Godfrey

Biography and cause of death of John Ray Godfrey

John Ray Godfrey (1943 or 1944 – November 17, 2024) was an American basketball player. He played college basketball for the Abilene Christian Wildcats.

Godfrey attended Aspermont High School in his hometown of Aspermont, Texas. He played for the Wildcats from 1964 to 1968 as a shooting guard. Godfrey was selected as a member of the second-team Division II All-American team in 1967 and the third-team in 1968.

He was a three-time member of the All-Southland Conference team and named the Southland Player of the Year in 1968. Godfrey scored 1,467 points during his Wildcats career and ranks 11th in program history.

Godfrey was selected as the 178th overall pick of the 1968 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. He was also selected by the Houston Mavericks in the first round of the 1968 American Basketball Association (ABA) draft.

He was invited to a tryout with the United States basketball team for the 1968 Summer Olympics. Godfrey worked as a high school coach and administrator for 35 years.

John Ray Godfrey was inducted into the Abilene Christian University Sports Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011. His number 14 was retired by the Wildcats men’s basketball team in 2018 as the first jersey number retirement by the program.

Godfrey died on November 17, 2024, at the age of 80.

Source: Wikipedia