John Hummer

John 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.

Ed had led the team to the 1962 and 1963 titles.

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.

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.

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.

Hummer was honored with the team's B. Franklin Bunn ’07 Award for play, sportsmanship and influence that contributed most to the sport.

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.

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.

Despite the fact that Princeton had three of the five first-team All-Ivy team members, plus second-team member Hummer, they lost the one-game league playoff to the Jim McMillian-led 1968 Columbia Lions.

That year the team rose to as high as 8th in the AP Poll.

This was the first of thirteen Ivy League championships for head coach Pete Carril.

In college, Hummer was a three-time All-Ivy League selection (first-team: 1969 and 1970, second team: 1968).

He played for two Ivy League champion teams and served as team captain as a senior.

The following season, the team accumulated a 19–7 (14–0) record and participated in the 1969 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

They lost to St. John's in the tournament, but Hummer was joined by Geoff Petrie on the first-team All-Ivy squad.

This was the first of eleven NCAA tournament appearance for Carril.

It was also the first of three 14–0 conference champions for Carril.

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.

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.

Although Princeton did not appear in the 1970 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, they hosted Penn's game.

All three of his varsity years were spent under Carril.

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.

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).

Hummer was also drafted by The Floridians in the 1970 American Basketball Association draft.

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.

However, Braves General Manager Eddie Donovan doubted the 5 ft Murphy could make it in the NBA.

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.

Hummer attended Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia.

His nephew (Ed's son Ian) was a freshman on the 2009–10 Princeton team.

In Hummer's sophomore season at Princeton, the team was co-champion of the Ivy League with a 20–6 (12–3 Ivy) record.