John O. Underman (August 17, 1925 – October 23, 1969) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. Underman was selected in the

1947 BAA draft The 1947 BAA draft was the first ever draft of the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which later merged with the National Basketball League (NBL) to become the National Basketball Association (NBA). The fledgling BAA held this draft as a ...

by the St. Louis Bombers after a collegiate career at

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

(OSU), although he never played professionally. Underman went to West High School in

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

prior to choosing hometown OSU for college. He led the Big Nine Conference in scoring as a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

in 1945–46, the same season the Buckeyes made the NCAA Final Four and won the Third Place game. Underman then became an oral surgeon. He died in a car crash on October 23, 1969, at age 44.

References

1925 births 1969 deaths 20th-century American dentists American men's basketball players Centers (basketball) Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball players Sportspeople from Elyria, Ohio Basketball players from Lorain County, Ohio Road incident deaths in Ohio St. Louis Bombers (NBA) draft picks 20th-century American sportsmen {{1920s-US-basketball-bio-stub