John H. "Jack" Burmaster was an American basketball player and coach. He played collegiately for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. While at Illinois, Burmaster played the 1945 season with two notable future coaches, Johnny Orr and Vic Bubas. He was selected by the St. Louis Bombers in the 1948 BAA Draft. Burmaster, at 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds, began his professional career with the Oshkosh All-Stars of the National Basketball League during the 1948-49 season. He scored 360 points, fifth best on the team, in playing all 64 games for the All-Stars, who won the Western Division championship with a 37-27 record, one game ahead of the Tri-Cities Blackhawks and two ahead of the Sheboygan Red Skins. The All-Stars were defeated by the Anderson Packers in the NBL finals. When Oshkosh folded soon after the NBL merged with the Basketball Association of America in 1949, he joined Sheboygan of the newly minted NBA. Burmaster became one of Sheboygan's best all-around players. Tenacious on defense, he was equally tough on offense, averaging 9.8 points per game. He was the Red Skins' fourth-leading scorer. 

December 23rd, 1926 in Elgin  /  Died:   Sep 28th, 2005