| Wins against Kentucky - 0 | Losses against Kentucky - 1 |
Alma Mater: Kansas [1921]
Hometown: Wellston, OH
Date Born: September 26, 1898
Date Died: August 13, 1979
Overall Record: 310-284 [25 Seasons]
Date | Matchup | UK Result | Score | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
12/1/1959 | Colorado St Teachers at Kentucky | W | 106 - 73 | - |
Obituary - Ukiah (CA) Daily Journal (August 15, 1979)
Former Stanford Cage Mentor John Bunn Succumbs at 80
United Press International reported today in a short "obit" out of Springfield, Mass. the death, at the age of 80, of John W. Bunn, director of athletics and basketball coach at Springfield College from 1946 - 1956.
But for longtime Pacific Coast Conference basketball fans, Coach Bunn was best known as the Stanford university basketball mentor who coached Hank Luisetti, Art Stoffen and a number of other basketball stars for years. Into the era of Howie Dallmar, Jim Pollard, Bill Cowen, Ed Voss, Fred Linari et al, 1941 National Champions.
And it was Luisetti who revolutionized basketball with his one-handed jump shot, or push shot, and scored 40 points on a given night. It was marvelous Hank, under the guidance and with the encouragement of Bunn, who opened up and speeded up the game.
As was noted in the UPI dispatch, Bunn died late Monday Newbury Park, Calif. He helped establish the James Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the Hall in 1964. He served as national interpreter and basketball rules editor for the Hall of Fame for 10 years.
Concludes the United Press International in his Springfield dispatch: "Edward S. Steitz, an assistant under Bunn before succeeding him at Springfield College, called Bunn 'A giant in his field. He was a great coach. He was 20 years ahead of his time. No one had a better insight into basketball rules.'"
Back in the days when Lee Guttero was the dominant center for Southern California, Art Stoffen of Stanford and Bob Herwig, Chet Carlisle, Bob Chalmers, Hal Eiffert, Dave Luce, Ray Baisley of Cal, and Woody Strode, Jackie Robinson and Kenny Washington were household words for cage fans. Bunn was noted for his outstanding Stanford teams sparked by Luisetti and Co. The "strategy" sessions between the late Nibs Price of Cal and Bunn were classic cage confrontations, but it was the emergence of Luisetti and the abolition of the center jump after every basket which paved the way for today's modern college and professional game. And it was Bunn, as a rules committee members and rules interpreter, who led the struggle to open up basketball, speed up and improve the game, while still remembering the games debt to its founder, Dr. James Naismith.