John W. Bunn

As a coach, teacher, lecturer, and prolific writer, John Bunn was a national and international authority on basketball. First playing and coaching under Hall of Famer Phog Allen at the University of Kansas, Bunn moved on as head coach at Stanford, building the Cardinal program into a national power and winning three Pacific Coast Conference championships from 1936 to 1938. Bunn’s teams played a coast-to-coast schedule, a rarity in those days, which helped to establish West Coast basketball. In 1937, Stanford won the Helms Foundation national championship behind Hall of Famer Hank Luisetti. Bunn, who also coached at Springfield College (1946 to 1956) and Colorado College (1958 to 1963), initiated many rules changes, most notably the elimination of the center jump following a field goal in 1937. Served as chairman on the Basketball Hall of Fame from 1949 to 1963 and as Editor of College Guide and Official Rules Interpreter in 1959 and 1960. Due to his extensive foreign travel, Bunn was dubbed the “American Ambassador of Basketball.” For his tireless contribution, the Basketball Hall of Fame annually presents the John Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award in his honor.