Meet SJND Alum Gemeny Givens III
Written by Jayden S. ‘27
Meet SJND alum Gemeny Givens. He was a guard that played his high school years for the legendary Don Lippi and went to three CIF state championships during his time here at SJND. As a senior, Gemeny was ranked #79 in the state and #792 in the country. He ended his senior season with a 29–6 record and a regular season record of 11–1, according to www.maxpreps.com.
After his senior season in high school, he didn’t receive any scholarship offers and decided to take his talents to Impact Academy, then to CCSF, later accepting a Division 2 offer to St. Mary’s University in Texas.
Givens recalls, “No athletic scholarships out of high school. I went to a prep school called Impact Academy in Las Vegas and got a D2 offer. It wasn’t what I wanted so I decided to go to CCSF to try to get a D1 but didn’t get it. I ended up accepting the D2 and finishing out at St. Mary’s University Texas. I also played a year at the University of Hertfordshire while getting my masters degree.”
He is now 28 and works as an educator at the Hidden Genius Project in Oakland and as a strategy consultant. “I’m an innovation educator at Hidden Genius and an strategy consultant specializing in AI, research and ethics,” he said.
He still plays basketball for fun in addition to his work with Hidden Genius: “I still play casually when I can and I host an outdoor tournament every summer,” Givens states.
