John Hummer

Last updated

John Hummer
Personal information
Born (1948-05-04) May 4, 1948 (age 76)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High school Washington-Lee
(Arlington County, Virginia)
College Princeton (1967–1970)
NBA draft 1970: 1st round, 15th overall pick
Selected by the Buffalo Braves
Playing career1970–1976
Position Power forward / center
Number45, 42, 14
Career history
1970–1973 Buffalo Braves
1973–1974 Chicago Bulls
1974–1976 Seattle SuperSonics
Career highlights and awards
  • 2× First-team All-Ivy League (1969, 1970)
  • Second-team All-Ivy League (1968)
Career NBA statistics
Points 2,248 (6.3 ppg)
Rebounds 1,733 (5.9 rpg)
Assists 543 (1.7 apg)
Stats at NBA.com  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Stats at Basketball Reference  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

John R. Hummer (born May 4, 1948) is an American venture capitalist and retired professional basketball player who was an original member of the Buffalo Braves after starring for the Princeton Tigers men's basketball team. He also led his high school to the 1966 Virginia State 1A championship and helped Princeton earn a 1967–68 co-Ivy League Championship as well as a 1968–69 outright Ivy League Championship. Over the course of his basketball career, he was coached by four National Basketball Hall of Fame members.

Contents

In college, Hummer was a three-time All-Ivy League selection (first-team: 1969 and 1970, second team: 1968). [1] [2] He played for two Ivy League champion teams and served as team captain as a senior. [3] He was a part of the first of head coach Pete Carril's thirteen Ivy League champions (1968), eleven NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament teams (1969) and three undefeated conference champions (1969). Although Hummer set no statistical records, his name continues to be ranked high in the Princeton record book by many statistical measures.

He played six seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Braves, Chicago Bulls and Seattle SuperSonics. He was the 15th overall selection in the 1970 NBA draft and the first draft choice in the history of the Braves franchise. As a Braves draft choice, he was a somewhat controversial pick in a draft year with two All-American local products available. During his NBA career, he played for Hall of Famers Dolph Schayes, Bill Russell and Jack Ramsay.

After his professional basketball career ended, he went to Stanford University to get an MBA in 1980. In 1989, Ann Winblad and he founded Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, a venture capital firm focusing on software companies.

Amateur career

Hummer attended Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia. Following in the footsteps of his brother Ed Hummer, he led W-L to the 1966 Virginia 1A state title as a high school senior. [1] Ed had led the team to the 1962 and 1963 titles. [1] His nephew (Ed's son Ian) was a freshman on the 2009–10 Princeton team. [4]

In Hummer's sophomore season at Princeton, the team was co-champion of the Ivy League with a 20–6 (12–3 Ivy) record. [3] Despite the fact that Princeton had three of the five first-team All-Ivy team members, plus second-team member Hummer, [5] they lost the one-game league playoff to the Jim McMillian-led 1968 Columbia Lions. [3] That year the team rose to as high as 8th in the AP Poll. [5] This was the first of thirteen Ivy League championships for head coach Pete Carril. [3]

The following season, the team accumulated a 19–7 (14–0) record and participated in the 1969 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. [3] They lost to St. John's in the tournament, but Hummer was joined by Geoff Petrie on the first-team All-Ivy squad. [6] This was the first of eleven NCAA tournament appearance for Carril. It was also the first of three 14–0 conference champions for Carril. [3]

As a senior, Hummer was first-team All-Ivy, but the Tigers placed third in the conference to the undefeated (in Ivy League games) Corky Calhoun-led Penn Quakers and McMillian's Lions. [7] Although Princeton did not appear in the 1970 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, they hosted Penn's game. [7] All three of his varsity years were spent under Carril. [3] Again, following in the footsteps of his brother who had served as Princeton captain of the 1966–67 team, John was co-captain for the 1969–70 team along with classmate Petrie. [3] Hummer was honored with the team's B. Franklin Bunn ’07 Award for play, sportsmanship and influence that contributed most to the sport. [8]

During his career, he shared the spotlight with Petrie and did not set any statistical records at a school and conference where Bill Bradley continues to dominate the record books. Over the course of his career, Hummer was the 9th Tiger to accumulate 1000 career points (1031 in 67 games) and he continued to rank seventh in school history with a 15.4 points/game average through the 2009–10 season. Since his career ended in 1970 only Brian Taylor has posted a higher average. He stands eighth in career free throws made (297), having only been passed since his career ended by Craig Robinson and Kit Mueller. He is tenth in career rebounds. [9]

Professional basketball career

Following his senior season, Hummer was one of three first-round Ivy League selections in the 1970 NBA Draft (Petrie – 8th, McMillian 13th and Hummer 15th). [7] Hummer was also drafted by The Floridians in the 1970 American Basketball Association draft. [10] The 1970 draft included two promising All-American local-Buffalo area talents: St. Bonaventure University's Buffalo-born Bob Lanier and Niagara University's Calvin Murphy. Murphy was a fan favorite that many local fans hoped the Braves would select. [11] However, Braves General Manager Eddie Donovan doubted the 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) Murphy could make it in the NBA. [12] The Baltimore Bullets traded to improve their draft position on the day of the March 23, 1970 NBA draft. They traded their #15 selection and Mike Davis to the expansion Buffalo Braves for the #9 selection. That day, the Braves selected Hummer with the 15th pick. [13] Hummer averaged 11.3 points and 8.9 rebounds for the 1970–71 Buffalo Braves during an average of 32.6 minutes in 81 games played for coach Dolph Schayes. [14] The 22–60 Braves finished fourth in the four-team Atlantic Division. [14] Hummer and the Braves struggled for two more seasons with 60-loss seasons. [15] [16] The 1972–73 Braves were Jack Ramsay's first coaching season with his second NBA team. [17]

After the Braves selected Ernie DiGregorio in the 1973 NBA draft to complement 1972 NBA draft selection Bob McAdoo, it was clear the team was going to change to fast-paced offense to leverage DiGregorio's skills. Hummer was more of a defensive player. Prior to the 1973–74 NBA season, Hummer was packaged with a 1974 NBA draft 2nd round pick and a 1975 NBA draft 2nd round pick in a trade that sent him to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Gar Heard and Kevin Kunnert. [13] The deal was part of the resume that earned Donavan the NBA Executive of the Year Award. [18] That season the 54–28 Dick Motta-coached 1973–74 Bulls team that he was traded to initially would make the playoffs, but the 36–46 Bill Russell-coached 1973–74 SuperSonics that he would finish the season with would not. [19] [20]

During the season (on January 7), he was traded by the Bulls to the Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for a 1975 NBA draft 2nd round selection. [13] Russell's SuperSonics (1974–75 and 1975–76) were the only playoff teams for whom he played in the postseason. [13] [21] [22] In the 1975 NBA Playoffs, the Sonics defeated the Detroit Pistons 2–1 in the first round before losing to the Golden State Warriors 4–2. Hummer appeared in six of the nine playoff games that year, but accumulated no points. [13] The following season the Sonics earned a bye in the first round of the 1976 NBA Playoffs where they lost to the Phoenix Suns. Hummer appeared in three of these games. [13]

Never a strong free throw shooter, Hummer failed to make 50% of his free throws during his last three seasons in the NBA. In the 1974–75 season, he shot an unusually low 0.275 from the free throw line. [21]

Education

Hummer graduated from Princeton University in 1970 with an A.B. in English and in 1980 with an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. [23]

Venture capitalism

In 1989 Ann Winblad and Hummer founded Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, which claims to have been the first venture capital firm to focus exclusively on the Software industry. [24]

The company has financed over 100 ventures that have been on the forefront of trends that have gone from personal computer (PC) software to enterprise computing to Internet applications. The company's investments have now spanned generations of software applications, architectures, delivery methods, and business models, including Omniture, Voltage Security, MuleSoft, Wind River Systems and Hyperion Solutions. [25]

Other notable companies that Hummer Winblad Venture Partners did provide venture capital for, that no longer exist, are Napster, Pets.com, and HomeGrocer. [26]

Related Research Articles

The 1970 NBA draft was the 24th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 23, 1970, before the 1970–71 season. In this draft, 17 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. A player who had finished his four-year college eligibility was eligible for selection. If a player left college early, he would not be eligible for selection until his college class graduated. The first two picks in the draft belonged to the teams that finished last in each division, with the order determined by a coin flip. The Detroit Pistons won the coin flip and were awarded the first overall pick, while the San Diego Rockets were awarded the second pick. The remaining first-round picks and the subsequent rounds were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season. Three expansion franchises, the Buffalo Braves, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Portland Trail Blazers, took part in the NBA Draft for the first time and were assigned the seventh, the eighth and the ninth pick in each round. In the first round, the Cavaliers had the seventh pick, while the Blazers and the Braves had the eighth and the ninth pick respectively. In the subsequent rounds, the Cavaliers and the Braves exchanged their order of selection, while the Blazers had the eighth pick throughout the draft. The draft consisted of 19 rounds comprising the selection of 239 players; it holds the record for the most prospects selected in any NBA draft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pete Carril</span> American basketball coach (1930–2022)

Peter Joseph Carril was an American basketball coach. He is best known as head coach of Princeton University for 30 years and for his use of the "Princeton offense". He also coached at Lehigh University and as an assistant with the Sacramento Kings in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoff Petrie</span> American former basketball player (born 1948)

Geoffrey Michael Petrie is an American former professional basketball player. A native of Pennsylvania, he played professional basketball in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Portland Trail Blazers where he won NBA Rookie of the Year in 1971. After retirement as a player he entered management, and was the President of Basketball Operations for the Sacramento Kings in the NBA until June 2013.

Armond G. Hill is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is Director of Basketball Administration for Indiana University men's basketball.

The 1970–71 NBA season was the Buffalo Braves inaugural season in the NBA. With a roster made up primarily of castoffs, the Braves got off on the right foot by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 107–92 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium on October 14. However, the Braves would drop their next nine as they took on established NBA teams on the way to finishing in last place in the Atlantic Division. The Braves' record was 22–60, which was 7 games better than the Cleveland Cavaliers, their partners in expansion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princeton Tigers men's basketball</span> Collegiate basketball program

The Princeton Tigers men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing Princeton University. The school competes in the Ivy League in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Tigers play home basketball games at the Jadwin Gymnasium in Princeton, New Jersey, on the university campus. Princeton has appeared in 25 NCAA tournaments, most recently in 2023. In 1965, the Tigers made the NCAA Final Four, with Bill Bradley being named the Most Outstanding Player. The team is currently coached by former player Mitch Henderson.

The 1964–65 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team represented Princeton University in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1964–65 NCAA University Division men's basketball season. Butch van Breda Kolff served as head coach and the team captain was Bill Bradley. The team played its home games in the Dillon Gymnasium in Princeton, New Jersey. The team was the champion of the Ivy League, earning an invitation to the 23-team 1965 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

The 1974–75 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team represented the Princeton University in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1974–75 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Pete Carril and the team co-captains were Armond Hill and Michael Steuerer. The team played its home games in the Jadwin Gymnasium on the University campus in Princeton, New Jersey, and was the runner-up of the Ivy League and champion of the 16-team 1975 National Invitation Tournament.

The 1966–67 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team represented Princeton University in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1966–67 NCAA University Division men's basketball season. Butch van Breda Kolff served as head coach and the team captain was Ed Hummer. The team played its home games in the Dillon Gymnasium on the University campus in Princeton, New Jersey. The team was the champion of the Ivy League, which earned them an invitation to the 23-team 1967 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. This was van Breda Kolff's final year as head coach at Princeton. Upon his retirement to go coach the Los Angeles Lakers, he eclipsed R. B. Smith's fifty-eight-year-old Ivy League winning percentage record with a 76.9% mark (103–31). The record stood until Bill Carmody stepped down in 2000. His team's helped Princeton end the decade with a 72.6 winning percentage (188–71), which was the tenth best in the nation.

The 1968–69 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team represented the Princeton University in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1968–69 NCAA University Division men's basketball season. The head coach was Pete Carril and the team captain was Christopher Thomforde. The team played its home games in the Dillon Gymnasium on the university campus before the January 25, 1969, opening of Jadwin Gymnasium on the university campus in Princeton, New Jersey. The team was the champion of the Ivy League, which earned them an invitation to the 25-team 1969 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The team was Princeton's first undefeated Ivy League champion, and earned Carril his first of eleven NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament invitations. The team helped Princeton end the decade with a 72.6 winning percentage (188–71), which was the tenth best in the nation.

The 1975–76 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team represented Princeton University in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1975–76 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Pete Carril and the team co-captains were Armond Hill and Michael Steuerer. The team played its home games in the Jadwin Gymnasium on the university campus in Princeton, New Jersey. It was the undefeated Ivy League and earned birth in the 32-team 1976 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

The 1967–68 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team represented Princeton University in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1967–68 NCAA University Division men's basketball season. Pete Carril served as head coach and the team captain was Joe Heiser. The team played its home games in the Dillon Gymnasium on the University campus in Princeton, New Jersey. The team was the co-champion of the Ivy League, but lost a one-game playoff for an invitation to the 23-team 1968 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.

The 1971–72 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team represented the Princeton University in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1971–72 NCAA University Division men's basketball season. The head coach was Pete Carril and the team captain was Alfred M. Dufty, Jr. The team played its home games in the Jadwin Gymnasium on the University campus in Princeton, New Jersey. The team was the runner-up in the Ivy League and earned itself an invitation to the 16-team 1972 National Invitation Tournament. The team was the first Princeton team to participate in the National Invitation Tournament.

The 1983–84 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team represented Princeton University in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1983–84 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Pete Carril and the team captains was Bill Ryan. The team played its home games in the Jadwin Gymnasium on the University campus in Princeton, New Jersey. The team was the champion of the Ivy League, which earned it an invitation to the 53-team 1984 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

The 1982–83 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team represented Princeton University in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1982–83 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Pete Carril and the team co-captains were Gary Knapp and Craig Robinson. The team played its home games in the Jadwin Gymnasium on the University campus in Princeton, New Jersey. The team was the champion of the Ivy League, which earned them an invitation to the 52-team 1983 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

The 1995–96 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team represented Princeton University in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1995–96 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Pete Carril and the team captain was Sydney Johnson. The team played its home games in the Jadwin Gymnasium on the University campus in Princeton, New Jersey. The team was the champion of the Ivy League, which earned them an invitation to the 64-team 1996 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament where they were seeded thirteenth in the Southeast Region. This was the final year that Carril coached the men's basketball team. He would be succeeded by assistant coach Bill Carmody. Carrill retired as the Ivy League's winningest coach in terms of overall victories, conference victories and conference championships. By the end of the decade, Princeton achieved a 76.1% (210–66) winning percentage, which was the eighth best in the nation.

The 1969–70 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team represented Princeton University in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1969–70 NCAA University Division men's basketball season. The head coach was Pete Carril and the team co-captains were John Hummer and Geoff Petrie. The team played its home games in the Jadwin Gymnasium on the university campus in Princeton, New Jersey. The team finished third in the Ivy League and did not participate in either the postseason 1970 National Invitation Tournament or the 1970 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. The team helped Princeton end the decade with a 72.6 winning percentage (188–71), which was the tenth best in the nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitch Henderson</span> American college basketball coach (born 1975)

Mitchell Gordon Henderson is an American college basketball coach, currently serving as head coach for the Princeton Tigers men's basketball team. Before taking the Princeton job in 2011, he served as an assistant for the Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team for 11 seasons under Bill Carmody. Henderson was a member of three consecutive Ivy League championship Princeton teams as a player. He was a co-captain of the second of these undefeated league champions along with Steve Goodrich.

The 2012–13 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team represented Princeton University during the 2012–13 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Tigers, led by second year head coach Mitch Henderson, played their home games at Jadwin Gymnasium and were members of the Ivy League. The Tigers entered the season as the favorites to win the Ivy League regular season title. For the first time in school history, the team was served by a quartet of captains. They finished the season 17–11, 10–4 in Ivy League play to finish in second place. They chose not to participate in a postseason tournament. Following the season Hummer earned Ivy League Men's Basketball Player of the Year.

Ian MacDonald Hummer is an American professional basketball player for Osaka Evessa of the Japanese B.League. He has previously played professionally in countries such as Turkey, Russia, France (Monaco), Germany and Finland. He is from Vienna, Virginia and played college basketball for the Princeton Tigers. He was the 2009 The Washington Post Boys basketball Player of the Year for Gonzaga College High School as a senior in high school and the 2013 Ivy League Men's Basketball Player of the Year as a senior in college for Princeton.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Sanders, Rich (August 17, 2006). "#16 Hummer Brothers, Washington-Lee Basketball, 1963 and 1966: Big Men siblings led 'Little Generals' to prominence in 1960s". Burke Connection . Archived from the original on December 18, 2011. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  2. ↑ Princeton Athletic Communications (June 12, 2009). "Men's Basketball Record Book • Ivy League & National Awards". GoPrincetonTigers.com. Princeton University. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Princeton Athletic Communications (June 12, 2009). "Men's Basketball Record Book • All-Time Results". GoPrincetonTigers.com. Princeton University. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  4. ↑ Princeton Athletic Communications (December 13, 2009). "Tigers On Target in 65–50 Win at UNCG". GoPrincetonTigers.com. Princeton University. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  5. 1 2 "1967–68 Ivy Men's Basketball". IvyLeagueSports.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2008. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  6. ↑ "1968–69 Ivy Men's Basketball". IvyLeagueSports.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2008. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  7. 1 2 3 "1969–70 Ivy Men's Basketball". IvyLeagueSports.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2007. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  8. ↑ Princeton Athletic Communications (June 12, 2009). "Men's Basketball Record Book • Letterwinners & Team Awards". GoPrincetonTigers.com. Princeton University. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  9. ↑ Princeton Athletic Communications (June 12, 2009). "Men's Basketball Record Book • Individual & Team Records". GoPrincetonTigers.com. Princeton University. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  10. ↑ "John Hummer". databaseBasketball.com. databaseSports.com. Archived from the original on May 28, 2011. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  11. ↑ Tarapacki, Thomas (July 12, 2008). "Remember the Buffalo Braves?". Buffalo Rising . Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
  12. ↑ Howell, John. "The Five Most Pivotal Draft Moves in the History of the Braves-Clippers Franchise". Bleacher Report . Retrieved March 27, 2010.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "John Hummer". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  14. 1 2 "1970–71 Buffalo Braves Roster and Statistics". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  15. ↑ "1971–72 Buffalo Braves Roster and Statistics". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  16. ↑ "1972–73 Buffalo Braves Roster and Statistics". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  17. ↑ "Jack Ramsay". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  18. ↑ "Denver's Mark Warkentien named NBA Executive of the Year". NBA.com . May 3, 2009. Archived from the original on May 5, 2009. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
  19. ↑ "1973–74 Seattle Supersonics Roster and Statistics". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  20. ↑ "1973–74 Chicago Bulls Roster and Statistics". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  21. 1 2 "1974–75 Seattle Supersonics Roster and Statistics". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  22. ↑ "1975–76 Seattle Supersonics Roster and Statistics". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  23. ↑ "The Hummer Winblad Team". Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. Archived from the original on February 13, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
  24. ↑ "Software Investors Since 1989". Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. Archived from the original on April 12, 2010. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
  25. ↑ "Hummer: Hummer Winblad". Lycos, Inc. Archived from the original on June 14, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
  26. ↑ "Sample Hummer Winblad Investments". Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. Archived from the original on March 24, 2010. Retrieved April 4, 2010.

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