Jerry “Trigger” Havens, a 1960 graduate of Cordell High School was inducted into the Oklahoma Panhandle State University Athletic Hall of Fame at a ceremony at the University on Saturday, September 17, 2022. Jerry was a member of the basketball teams from 1960 to 1965. As a student at Cordell High School in 1960, Jerry was an all conference quarterback and an all conference basketball player and was an alternate to the All State Basketball team .
After graduating from college, Jerry began a highly successful basketball career. He started at Magnum High School in 1965, and also coached at Clinton HS, Shawnee HS, Marlow HS, and Stillwater HS. Jerry’s teams qualified for the Oklahoma State Basketball tournament several times while coaching in Oklahoma. During those years, Jerry was selected to Coach the Faith Seven game with all stars from Oklahoma and Texas competing in the game, he was also selected to coach in the Oklahoma All State during his coaching career in Oklahoma.
Jerry moved to Lewisville Texas in 1991 and continued to coach until 2004. During that time his teams qualified for the Texas State Basketball playoffs several times. Jerry has been inducted into the Oklahoma Coaches Hall of Fame and the National High School Coaches Hall of Fame. Jerry has two sons that also coach, Son JA is the head coach at Northeastern Oklahoma State University and son Jon is the head coach at Richland College in the Dallas area. Both sons have won national championships while coaching, Ja at Drury College in Springfield, Missouri in NCAA Division 2, and Jon at Richland in Junior College, Division 3. Quite a basketball family Jerry is retired with his wife Susan in Shawnee, Ok. and works part time for the Oklahoma Coaches Association. He serves as the Director of the Oklahoma Coaches Clinic for the All State games each July Jerry is the son of Hobby and May Havens of Cordell, who are now deceased. Great job and career for a former Cordell HS student and former Cordell citizen!