ABILENE – Abilene Christian University announced Friday that it has retired the number of former men's basketball standout John Ray Godfrey and a banner recognizing that honor will be unveiled Saturday during the 50
th anniversary of Moody Coliseum.
Godfrey is the first ACU men's basketball player to have his jersey number retired. He wore both Nos. 14 and 15 during his career (14 at home and 15 on the road), but will have his home No. 14 retired with a banner placed in the rafters of Moody Coliseum to mark the honor. Current Wildcat
Trey Lenox wears No. 14 and will finish his career wearing that number. However, after he finishes his career with the Wildcats, no other men's basketball player will ever wear No. 14.
The jersey retirement ceremony will take place Saturday at halftime of ACU's men's game against Central Arkansas, which will also be Senior Day for both the ACU men's and women's teams. Saturday's game will also mark ACU's celebration of the first game played in Moody Coliseum: a win over Arkansas State on Feb. 18, 1968, that was headlined by Godfrey's heroics.
In the only game he ever played in Moody, Godfrey went for 41 points to lead ACU to a 96-93 overtime win over ASU to clinch the Southland Conference championship for the Wildcats.
Former coaches and players from both men's and women's programs are invited to attend Saturday's game and be recognized on the floor at halftime of each game. At halftime of the women's game, a banner recognizing Jennifer (Clarkson) Frazier's retired No. 25 jersey will also be unveiled. Current ACU women's basketball player Lexi Kirgan will complete her career in No. 25, but after that no Wildcat women's player will ever again wear No. 25.
Both banners honoring Frazier and Godfrey will be raised to the Moody ceiling after the current season ends.
Those two retired basketball jerseys join four retired football jersey numbers as the only numbers retired in ACU athletics history. The four retired football jerseys are No. 10 (quarterback Jim Lindsey), No. 11 (defensive back Danieal Manning), No. 28 (running back Wilbert Montgomery), and No. 44 (wide receiver Johnny Perkins).
Godfrey was the first Wildcat men's basketball player to earn first team all-America honors, doing so for the Wildcats of Hall of Fame coach Dee Nutt in 1967-68 after averaging 23.8 points per game. Godfrey still ranks 11th in ACU history in scoring, finishing his career with 1,467 points.
He played on three Southland Conference championship teams, and in his sophomore season the Wildcats advanced to the NCAA college division national tournament. He was Most Valuable Player in the Southland in 1967-68, and three times he was a unanimous selection to the all-league team. He was named all-America by Associated Press, United Press International and U.S. Basketball Coaches Association and was invited to the 1968 U.S. Olympic trials.
