WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.680 Imagine for a second that you are packing up 00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:06.019 your entire life. Oh boy, yeah. Just putting 00:00:06.019 --> 00:00:08.000 everything you own into a couple of suitcases. 00:00:08.220 --> 00:00:10.179 You're saying goodbye to your friends, your family. 00:00:10.359 --> 00:00:12.960 Your favorite local coffee shop. Exactly. And 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:15.619 you are moving to a completely new country. You 00:00:15.619 --> 00:00:17.820 have to figure out the language barrier, adjust 00:00:17.820 --> 00:00:21.059 to a totally new culture, and, you know, learn 00:00:21.059 --> 00:00:23.899 an entirely new system at work. Right. Now imagine 00:00:23.899 --> 00:00:26.760 doing that not just once, but roughly every single 00:00:26.760 --> 00:00:30.429 year. for an entire decade. It's exhausting just 00:00:30.429 --> 00:00:32.670 thinking about it. It really is. Different time 00:00:32.670 --> 00:00:36.109 zones, different currencies, completely different 00:00:36.109 --> 00:00:38.969 locker rooms, and doing all of that for the absolute 00:00:38.969 --> 00:00:42.390 unrelenting love of a game. Yeah. Welcome to 00:00:42.390 --> 00:00:44.649 the show. Today's Deep Diet is titled The Global 00:00:44.649 --> 00:00:47.509 Odyssey, an Ivy League Legacy of Ian Hummer. 00:00:47.789 --> 00:00:50.329 It's a fascinating title for a fascinating guy. 00:00:50.509 --> 00:00:53.090 It is. We're going to look really closely at 00:00:53.090 --> 00:00:55.490 the anatomy of an international basketball career. 00:00:55.609 --> 00:00:58.189 We're talking about the kind of overseas basketball 00:00:58.189 --> 00:01:00.810 journeyman lifestyle that usually happens, you 00:01:00.810 --> 00:01:03.289 know, far away from the NBA cameras. Right. The 00:01:03.289 --> 00:01:05.849 stuff you don't see on primetime TV. Exactly. 00:01:05.849 --> 00:01:08.890 And we are balancing that against the incredibly 00:01:08.890 --> 00:01:12.030 heavy historic weight of Ivy League basketball 00:01:12.030 --> 00:01:14.730 records. Yeah, it really is a phenomenal trajectory 00:01:14.730 --> 00:01:18.010 to unpack. And just to set the stage for you 00:01:18.010 --> 00:01:20.590 listening, we are basing our analysis today on 00:01:20.590 --> 00:01:23.489 a really comprehensive biographical overview 00:01:23.489 --> 00:01:27.010 of the American Azerbaijani professional basketball 00:01:27.010 --> 00:01:30.329 player Ian Hummer. The source material we're 00:01:30.329 --> 00:01:32.709 looking at meticulously outlines his progression. 00:01:32.890 --> 00:01:35.250 It starts with him as a standout. at Gonzaga 00:01:35.250 --> 00:01:37.450 High School basketball in Washington, D .C., 00:01:37.450 --> 00:01:39.989 moves through his years as absolute Princeton 00:01:39.989 --> 00:01:42.849 basketball royalty all the way to his current 00:01:42.849 --> 00:01:45.969 status as a true global athlete. And the mission 00:01:45.969 --> 00:01:47.909 of this deep dive isn't just to rattle off a 00:01:47.909 --> 00:01:50.510 list of box scores. No, definitely not. Or, you 00:01:50.510 --> 00:01:52.590 know, just read off team names. Hummer's story 00:01:52.590 --> 00:01:54.950 serves as this perfect lens for you to understand 00:01:54.950 --> 00:01:57.450 the underlying mechanics of professional sports. 00:01:57.549 --> 00:02:00.170 Right. The unseen pathways. Exactly. The highly 00:02:00.170 --> 00:02:02.430 transient pathways that dictate how a player 00:02:02.430 --> 00:02:05.609 survives and actually thrives when they're operating 00:02:05.609 --> 00:02:07.469 outside the guaranteed contracts of the NBA. 00:02:07.689 --> 00:02:09.310 Right. Because it's a completely different world 00:02:09.310 --> 00:02:11.919 over there. OK, so let's unpack this, because 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:14.120 to really understand how a guy ends up playing 00:02:14.120 --> 00:02:16.879 in nine different countries and eventually suiting 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:19.240 up for the Azerbaijan national team, we have 00:02:19.240 --> 00:02:21.139 to start where that competitive fire was originally 00:02:21.139 --> 00:02:23.479 lit. Yeah, we have to go back to D .C. Right. 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:26.439 For Ian Hummer, that crucible was high school 00:02:26.439 --> 00:02:29.449 basketball in the Washington, D .C. area. Specifically, 00:02:29.610 --> 00:02:32.830 Gonzaga College High School. And if we look at 00:02:32.830 --> 00:02:35.490 the landscape of high school hoops, the Washington 00:02:35.490 --> 00:02:38.710 Catholic Athletic Conference, the WOTA is just 00:02:38.710 --> 00:02:42.110 notorious. An absolute gauntlet. A total pressure 00:02:42.110 --> 00:02:44.830 cooker for a teenager. It really is one of the 00:02:44.830 --> 00:02:47.590 premier talent incubators in the entire country. 00:02:47.810 --> 00:02:50.830 Like the WCC consistently produces high major 00:02:50.830 --> 00:02:53.860 division I talent. Future pros are everywhere. 00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:56.419 You were playing against elite athletes every 00:02:56.419 --> 00:02:58.740 single night in these packed, highly partisan, 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:01.879 sweaty gyms. And within that intense pressure 00:03:01.879 --> 00:03:04.639 cooker, Ian Hummer wasn't just surviving, he 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:07.319 was thriving. He was dominating. Right. By his 00:03:07.319 --> 00:03:10.060 junior year, this is the 2007 to 2008 season, 00:03:10.300 --> 00:03:12.819 Gonzaga was the top -ranked school in the entire 00:03:12.819 --> 00:03:16.020 D .C. metro area. And he was a critical piece 00:03:16.020 --> 00:03:18.030 of that machine. But it was really his senior 00:03:18.030 --> 00:03:20.469 year where his production forced everyone nationally 00:03:20.469 --> 00:03:22.849 to pay attention. Exactly. His senior year, the 00:03:22.849 --> 00:03:27.229 2008 to 2009 season, he wins the Washington Post 00:03:27.229 --> 00:03:29.810 Boys Basketball Player of the Year. Which is 00:03:29.810 --> 00:03:32.710 a massive deal. It's huge. Winning that specific 00:03:32.710 --> 00:03:35.370 award in that specific region means you are the 00:03:35.370 --> 00:03:38.009 absolute best player in a league that is overflowing 00:03:38.009 --> 00:03:40.310 with future NBA draft picks. Right. But there 00:03:40.310 --> 00:03:42.729 is one game. from that season that completely 00:03:42.729 --> 00:03:44.530 stands out in the source material. It happened 00:03:44.530 --> 00:03:49.949 on January 21st, 2009. Gonzaga is going up against 00:03:49.949 --> 00:03:52.629 their arch rival. DeMatha Catholic High School. 00:03:52.750 --> 00:03:55.189 Oh, the DeMatha rivalry. Yeah, DeMatha is sitting 00:03:55.189 --> 00:03:57.250 there ranked number 15 in the entire nation. 00:03:57.449 --> 00:03:59.710 It was a defining performance. Against a nationally 00:03:59.710 --> 00:04:02.729 ranked DeMatha squad, Hummer delivered a staggering 00:04:02.729 --> 00:04:05.789 32 points and 15 rebounds. Just massive numbers. 00:04:05.930 --> 00:04:08.169 Insane numbers for high school. This wasn't just 00:04:08.169 --> 00:04:10.310 a good local game. This performance earned him 00:04:10.310 --> 00:04:12.830 the ESPN Rise National Boys Basketball Player 00:04:12.830 --> 00:04:15.889 of the Week, and the impact on his team was immediate. 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:20.160 Single victory vaulted Gonzaga from being ranked 00:04:20.160 --> 00:04:23.660 43rd nationally all the way up to number 13. 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:26.639 A 30 spot jump. Yeah, a massive leap in the national 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:29.560 polls. And it was driven almost entirely by his 00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:31.870 sheer dominance in the paint. But wait, I have 00:04:31.870 --> 00:04:33.470 to play devil's advocate here for a second. Okay, 00:04:33.509 --> 00:04:36.069 go for it. If you are dropping 32 points and 00:04:36.069 --> 00:04:38.529 15 rebounds on the number 15 team in the country, 00:04:38.689 --> 00:04:41.410 you would think every blue blood college program 00:04:41.410 --> 00:04:43.490 in the nation is knocking down your door. You 00:04:43.490 --> 00:04:45.810 would assume so, yeah. But that isn't what happened. 00:04:45.870 --> 00:04:48.649 We see this massive scouting dilemma in the sources. 00:04:49.189 --> 00:04:53.540 He's listed at 6 '7". 225 pounds, and he's playing 00:04:53.540 --> 00:04:56.019 with his back to the basket. He's basically defending 00:04:56.019 --> 00:04:59.399 opposing centers. Right. So why did the power 00:04:59.399 --> 00:05:02.459 conferences look at a guy completely dominating 00:05:02.459 --> 00:05:05.750 the WCQC and decide to pass? It is a fascinating 00:05:05.750 --> 00:05:08.730 look into the rigid risk aversion of college 00:05:08.730 --> 00:05:11.209 basketball scouting. How so? Well, it comes down 00:05:11.209 --> 00:05:13.129 to positional translation at the next level. 00:05:13.230 --> 00:05:15.490 Major power conferences looked at his profile 00:05:15.490 --> 00:05:18.089 and labeled him with an underdeveloped face -up 00:05:18.089 --> 00:05:21.629 game. Ah, the classic label. Exactly. At 6 '7", 00:05:21.629 --> 00:05:23.370 he was essentially playing the center position 00:05:23.370 --> 00:05:26.769 in high school. But in the ACC or the Big East, 00:05:27.050 --> 00:05:30.649 a 6 '7 center is considered drastically undersized. 00:05:30.870 --> 00:05:33.209 Because suddenly he isn't backing down, you know, 00:05:33.209 --> 00:05:35.569 17 -year -old kids. He's trying to back down 00:05:35.569 --> 00:05:38.810 6 foot 11 guys who weigh 260 pounds. Precisely. 00:05:39.379 --> 00:05:42.199 Scouts questioned his potential to adapt. They 00:05:42.199 --> 00:05:44.699 assumed his low post skills would be entirely 00:05:44.699 --> 00:05:47.860 neutralized by larger, stronger athletes in a 00:05:47.860 --> 00:05:50.740 major conference. Right. To survive at that size 00:05:50.740 --> 00:05:53.019 in a major league, you typically need to transition 00:05:53.019 --> 00:05:55.259 to a perimeter role. You know, handling the ball, 00:05:55.379 --> 00:05:57.240 shooting from the outside, facing the basket. 00:05:57.420 --> 00:05:59.939 Blowing out of the wing. Yeah. But because Hummer 00:05:59.939 --> 00:06:02.060 hadn't needed to showcase those perimeter skills 00:06:02.060 --> 00:06:04.459 to dominate at the high school level, scouts 00:06:04.459 --> 00:06:06.360 projected that he simply couldn't do it. That's 00:06:06.360 --> 00:06:09.220 so frustrating. It is. They evaluated him based 00:06:09.220 --> 00:06:11.240 on a theoretical projection of what he might 00:06:11.240 --> 00:06:13.160 struggle with rather than trusting the elite 00:06:13.160 --> 00:06:15.120 production he was actively delivering against 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:17.680 top tier competition. It's the classic tweener 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:21.040 trap. You know, you are supposedly too small 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:24.000 to play in the post and too big or unproven to 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:26.899 play on the wing. Exactly. So he's getting offers. 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:30.040 But the sources note they're primarily from mid 00:06:30.040 --> 00:06:32.759 -major programs. Yeah. And he just wasn't interested 00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:35.500 in settling for that. He knew his worth. He absolutely 00:06:35.500 --> 00:06:38.120 knew he could play at a higher level. Yeah. And 00:06:38.120 --> 00:06:40.660 this leads us to his college commitment, which 00:06:40.660 --> 00:06:42.899 I honestly think is one of the most refreshing 00:06:42.899 --> 00:06:45.300 stories in this whole timeline. It really is. 00:06:45.500 --> 00:06:48.180 Amidst all the typical recruiting circus, his 00:06:48.180 --> 00:06:50.800 decision to commit to Princeton basketball under 00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:53.759 head coach Sidney Johnson was incredibly grounded. 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:57.060 It really highlights his pragmatism. He was taking 00:06:57.060 --> 00:06:59.600 a campus visit to Princeton with his father and 00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:01.500 they were staying in the dorm room of his older 00:07:01.500 --> 00:07:03.519 brother, Alex, who was already a student there. 00:07:03.660 --> 00:07:06.040 Yeah. The turning point didn't happen in a coach's 00:07:06.040 --> 00:07:08.459 office. It didn't happen on the court. It happened 00:07:08.459 --> 00:07:11.079 at midnight when Hummer decided to walk across 00:07:11.079 --> 00:07:13.720 campus to hang out in the dorm room of a player 00:07:13.720 --> 00:07:16.560 named Dan Mavrates. Just a casual midnight stroll. 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:19.300 Exactly. That simple act of wandering across 00:07:19.300 --> 00:07:21.959 the quad, that casual comfort of feeling like 00:07:21.959 --> 00:07:23.939 he naturally belonged in that environment. That 00:07:23.939 --> 00:07:26.959 was the deciding factor. His father saw that 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:29.800 level of comfort and just knew Ian was ready. 00:07:29.879 --> 00:07:32.519 He had found his fit. I love that. He didn't 00:07:32.519 --> 00:07:34.360 need the red carpet treatment. He just needed 00:07:34.360 --> 00:07:35.879 to know he fit in the locker room and on the 00:07:35.879 --> 00:07:38.300 campus. Right. And he certainly wasn't taking 00:07:38.300 --> 00:07:40.839 the summer off to celebrate either. The sources 00:07:40.839 --> 00:07:43.040 mentioned he spent his time training at the Georgetown 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:45.759 gym, leveraging a connection with John Thompson 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:48.959 III. He even played in the Kenner League, which 00:07:48.959 --> 00:07:51.759 is the only NCAA -sanctioned summer league in 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:55.089 D .C. So he is constantly sharpening his tools 00:07:55.089 --> 00:07:57.829 against elite talent. What's really fascinating 00:07:57.829 --> 00:08:00.490 here is how the constraints that limited his 00:08:00.490 --> 00:08:03.370 high major recruitment actually forced him into 00:08:03.370 --> 00:08:06.009 the perfect ecosystem. What do you mean? Well, 00:08:06.069 --> 00:08:08.230 if he had possessed that face -up game at 17, 00:08:08.370 --> 00:08:10.569 he might have gone to a major conference, been 00:08:10.569 --> 00:08:12.889 relegated to a role player, and had a completely 00:08:12.889 --> 00:08:14.970 different career trajectory. Oh, that makes sense. 00:08:15.310 --> 00:08:18.089 Instead, his perceived physical limitations led 00:08:18.089 --> 00:08:20.680 him to the Ivy League. And specifically to a 00:08:20.680 --> 00:08:23.399 Princeton system that heavily relies on high 00:08:23.399 --> 00:08:27.019 basketball IQ, precise passing, and versatile 00:08:27.019 --> 00:08:29.500 post play. Right. The famous Princeton offense. 00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:32.620 Exactly. It was the exact environment needed 00:08:32.620 --> 00:08:35.919 to maximize his specific skill set. Well, here's 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:38.259 where it gets really interesting. Because choosing 00:08:38.259 --> 00:08:40.940 Princeton wasn't just about finding a good offensive 00:08:40.940 --> 00:08:43.399 system for his game. No, not at all. For Ian 00:08:43.399 --> 00:08:46.200 Hummer, putting on that Princeton jersey meant 00:08:46.200 --> 00:08:48.620 stepping into a multi -generational family dynasty. 00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:51.139 And you really have to imagine the psychological 00:08:51.139 --> 00:08:53.779 weight of this for a second. The family ties 00:08:53.779 --> 00:08:56.580 are deeply embedded in the history of that program. 00:08:56.799 --> 00:08:59.700 Right. His father, Ed Hummer, was a member of 00:08:59.700 --> 00:09:03.139 the Princeton class of 1967. And Ed actually 00:09:03.139 --> 00:09:06.159 played alongside the legendary Bill Bradley Princeton 00:09:06.159 --> 00:09:09.179 icon, helping take the Princeton Tigers to the 00:09:09.179 --> 00:09:13.179 NCAA Final Four in 1965. Which is just mythical 00:09:13.179 --> 00:09:15.539 status in Ivy League basketball. Beyond that, 00:09:15.820 --> 00:09:18.860 his Uncle John, class of 1970, played at Princeton. 00:09:20.569 --> 00:09:33.210 Wow. Right. Your dad went to the Final Four with 00:09:33.210 --> 00:09:35.610 Bill Bradley, who is basically the mythic hero 00:09:35.610 --> 00:09:38.110 of the Ivy League. Your uncle was an NBA player. 00:09:38.350 --> 00:09:40.450 Your brother is on the team right now. Yeah. 00:09:40.610 --> 00:09:43.899 The expectations are astronomical. But there 00:09:43.899 --> 00:09:47.139 is also a profound, tragic element to his background 00:09:47.139 --> 00:09:50.179 that the sources outline. And we have to acknowledge 00:09:50.179 --> 00:09:53.440 it to get the full picture. Yes. During his freshman 00:09:53.440 --> 00:09:56.519 year of high school, Ian's mother, Judy, passed 00:09:56.519 --> 00:09:59.240 away from breast cancer. It's a devastating loss 00:09:59.240 --> 00:10:01.899 at an incredibly vulnerable age. Absolutely. 00:10:01.940 --> 00:10:05.019 If we look at the timeline here. He is navigating 00:10:05.019 --> 00:10:08.200 the intense pressure cooker of the WCAC, dealing 00:10:08.200 --> 00:10:11.299 with national media attention, facing the frustrations 00:10:11.299 --> 00:10:13.539 of the college recruiting process and bearing 00:10:13.539 --> 00:10:16.139 the weight of this massive family legacy. Yeah. 00:10:16.220 --> 00:10:18.639 All while processing the profound grief of losing 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:21.440 his mother as a teenager. The sheer psychological 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:23.940 resilience required to maintain his focus and 00:10:23.940 --> 00:10:26.080 his drive through that period is remarkable. 00:10:26.299 --> 00:10:28.460 It really is. The basketball court often becomes 00:10:28.460 --> 00:10:30.919 the ultimate sanctuary when your personal life 00:10:30.919 --> 00:10:32.799 is just turned upside down. So he arrives at 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:34.820 Princeton carrying all of this, the legacy, the 00:10:34.820 --> 00:10:36.919 grief, the chip on his shoulder from the scouts 00:10:36.919 --> 00:10:41.399 who said he was too small. And he immediately 00:10:41.399 --> 00:10:43.759 starts laying the foundation for an incredible 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:46.750 career. Let's look at his freshman year. The 00:10:46.750 --> 00:10:51.009 2009 to 2010 season. His impact was steady, but 00:10:51.009 --> 00:10:53.110 highly efficient right out of the gate. Yeah. 00:10:53.210 --> 00:10:55.950 A standout moment occurred on December 13th, 00:10:55.950 --> 00:10:59.450 2009. They were playing against UNC Greensboro. 00:10:59.809 --> 00:11:02.570 Princeton wins the game comfortably, 65 to 50, 00:11:02.730 --> 00:11:05.409 and Hummer leads the team in scoring for the 00:11:05.409 --> 00:11:08.659 very first time with 17 points. Nice. He adds 00:11:08.659 --> 00:11:11.000 a couple of steals and rebounds, but crucially, 00:11:11.139 --> 00:11:13.840 and this is the key stat, he commits zero turnovers. 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:16.480 Zero turnovers. Zero. That level of ball security 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:19.200 as a freshman is exceptionally rare, and it earned 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:21.399 him his first of two Ivy League Rookie of the 00:11:21.399 --> 00:11:24.500 Week awards that season. 17 points and zero turnovers 00:11:24.500 --> 00:11:27.100 as a freshman is exactly how you earn a college 00:11:27.100 --> 00:11:29.679 coach's trust. Absolutely. And that trust pays 00:11:29.679 --> 00:11:31.919 off heavily in his sophomore year, the 2010 to 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:35.299 2011 season. He starts 31 out of 32 games. A 00:11:35.299 --> 00:11:38.899 huge jump in responsibility. Huge. But there 00:11:38.899 --> 00:11:41.440 is a specific stretch against Lafayette and St. 00:11:41.559 --> 00:11:43.799 Joseph's that is just mathematically absurd. 00:11:43.980 --> 00:11:46.580 The shooting numbers. Yes. Against Lafayette, 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:49.559 he puts up 22 points, six rebounds, four assists, 00:11:49.779 --> 00:11:52.879 and two blocks. Then against St. Joe's, he dropped 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:56.480 17 points and eight rebounds. But the kicker, 00:11:56.480 --> 00:12:00.919 over those two games, he shot 18 for 24 from 00:12:00.919 --> 00:12:03.960 the field. Which is? That is a 75 % shooting 00:12:03.960 --> 00:12:07.429 clip. To shoot 75 % over multiple games against 00:12:07.429 --> 00:12:10.769 a vision of competition requires an elite combination 00:12:10.769 --> 00:12:13.750 of shot selection and physical control. Right. 00:12:13.850 --> 00:12:16.190 He's not just throwing up prayers. Exactly. It 00:12:16.190 --> 00:12:18.529 proved he wasn't forcing bad shots or rushing 00:12:18.529 --> 00:12:21.210 his offense. He was systematically dissecting 00:12:21.210 --> 00:12:23.509 the defense, finding his spots in the post or 00:12:23.509 --> 00:12:26.690 the mid range and executing with incredible efficiency. 00:12:27.269 --> 00:12:30.110 This earned him his first Ivy League player of 00:12:30.110 --> 00:12:32.629 the week honor. But the broader impact was on 00:12:32.629 --> 00:12:34.429 the team's overall success. They had a great 00:12:34.429 --> 00:12:36.830 year. That sophomore production was vital in 00:12:36.830 --> 00:12:38.850 helping Princeton secure a share of the Ivy League 00:12:38.850 --> 00:12:41.289 title, win a playoff game against Harvard, and 00:12:41.289 --> 00:12:43.490 earn a trip to the NCAA tournament. And the NCAA 00:12:43.490 --> 00:12:45.610 tournament matchup was against Kentucky. That 00:12:45.610 --> 00:12:48.370 is the ultimate test. You've got this undersized 00:12:48.370 --> 00:12:50.929 kid from the Ivy League going up against a Kentucky 00:12:50.929 --> 00:12:53.370 roster that's essentially an NBA waiting room. 00:12:53.470 --> 00:12:56.269 A roster full of future pros. Right. And Princeton 00:12:56.269 --> 00:12:58.750 loses, but they only lose by two points. That 00:12:58.750 --> 00:13:01.159 was a nail -biter. For Hummer. Playing major 00:13:01.159 --> 00:13:03.259 minutes in that game and earning second -team 00:13:03.259 --> 00:13:06.580 All -Ivy honors that year had to be massive validation. 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:10.500 It proved he could absolutely hold his own against 00:13:10.500 --> 00:13:12.620 the highest level of athletic competition in 00:13:12.620 --> 00:13:14.879 the country. It was a critical turning point 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:17.759 in his confidence. And as we move into his junior 00:13:17.759 --> 00:13:21.460 year, the 2011 -2012 season, we start to see 00:13:21.460 --> 00:13:24.019 the emergence of a truly complete player. The 00:13:24.019 --> 00:13:26.559 evolution. Right. He develops what is often referred 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:29.659 to as the clutch gene. Early in the season against 00:13:29.659 --> 00:13:31.620 Rutgers, he hits the game -winning layup with 00:13:31.620 --> 00:13:33.820 just three seconds remaining on the clock. There 00:13:33.820 --> 00:13:36.220 is no better feeling in sports than hitting a 00:13:36.220 --> 00:13:38.740 game -winner on the road. None. And he follows 00:13:38.740 --> 00:13:40.759 that up by just filling out the entire stat sheet 00:13:40.759 --> 00:13:43.440 night after night. In an overtime win against 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:47.860 Ryder, he posts 21 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, 00:13:48.019 --> 00:13:50.879 and 4 steals. Then against Northeastern, it's 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:54.259 20 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 steals. 00:13:54.539 --> 00:13:56.419 Those assists and steal numbers are jumping way 00:13:56.419 --> 00:13:59.019 up. That is the crucial evolution of his game. 00:13:59.340 --> 00:14:02.039 Reaching career highs in assistance deals demonstrates 00:14:02.039 --> 00:14:04.700 that he is no longer just a post -scorer. He's 00:14:04.700 --> 00:14:07.019 running the show. He has transitioned into a 00:14:07.019 --> 00:14:09.740 highly versatile hub for the offense. He is reading 00:14:09.740 --> 00:14:11.759 the floor, anticipating defensive rotations, 00:14:12.139 --> 00:14:14.799 finding his open teammates, and becoming a highly 00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:16.879 disruptive force on the defensive end. Yeah. 00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:19.220 He was answering every single question the Scouts 00:14:19.220 --> 00:14:21.940 had raised three years earlier. Absolutely. And 00:14:21.940 --> 00:14:24.220 then comes the absolute marathon game against 00:14:24.220 --> 00:14:27.059 Florida State on December 30. That game was intense. 00:14:27.500 --> 00:14:29.539 Florida State went on to win the ACC championship 00:14:29.539 --> 00:14:32.379 that year, so they were an elite, highly physical 00:14:32.379 --> 00:14:35.240 team. And the game goes into three overtimes. 00:14:35.320 --> 00:14:38.220 Three. Hummer is out there battling, and he finishes 00:14:38.220 --> 00:14:42.419 with 25 points and 15 rebounds. The sheer conditioning 00:14:42.419 --> 00:14:44.899 and mental fortitude required to bang in the 00:14:44.899 --> 00:14:48.000 post against an ACC frontcourt for three overtimes 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:51.019 is staggering. It is a massive testament to his 00:14:51.019 --> 00:14:54.019 physical durability. and that endurance allowed 00:14:54.019 --> 00:14:57.980 him to hit major historical milestones. On February 00:14:57.980 --> 00:15:01.559 4 against Yale, he scored 18 points to become 00:15:01.559 --> 00:15:04.679 the 29th Princeton Tiger to reach the 1 ,000 00:15:04.679 --> 00:15:07.320 -point mark. Incredible. Notably, he became the 00:15:07.320 --> 00:15:09.320 second member of the Hummer family to do so. 00:15:09.480 --> 00:15:11.820 Of course. But to truly understand the historical 00:15:11.820 --> 00:15:14.600 weight of his junior year, we really have to 00:15:14.600 --> 00:15:17.019 look at his total scoring output for the season, 00:15:17.080 --> 00:15:20.419 which was 515 points. Right, and that number 00:15:20.419 --> 00:15:24.409 is incredibly significant. because 515 points 00:15:24.409 --> 00:15:26.789 was the highest single -season scoring total 00:15:26.789 --> 00:15:29.629 by a Princeton player since Bill Bradley. There 00:15:29.629 --> 00:15:32.129 it is. There is that name again, the ghost of 00:15:32.129 --> 00:15:35.330 Princeton's past. For decades, players have tried 00:15:35.330 --> 00:15:37.950 to reach that statistical stratosphere, and it 00:15:37.950 --> 00:15:40.370 is incredibly poetic that the player to finally 00:15:40.370 --> 00:15:43.350 breach it is the son of Bradley's former teammate. 00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:46.259 The narrative symmetry is quite profound. It 00:15:46.259 --> 00:15:49.139 really is. He finishes his junior year as a unanimous 00:15:49.139 --> 00:15:52.139 first -team all -Ivy selection. He's firmly established 00:15:52.139 --> 00:15:54.500 as the premier player in the conference. This 00:15:54.500 --> 00:15:56.899 perfectly sets the stage for his senior year, 00:15:57.039 --> 00:16:01.080 the 2012 -2013 season. He was named co -captain, 00:16:01.080 --> 00:16:04.159 and he was the unanimous preseason pick for Ivy 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:06.860 League Player of the Year. The expectations were 00:16:06.860 --> 00:16:09.240 as high as they could possibly be. And he absolutely 00:16:09.240 --> 00:16:11.379 shatters them. The senior year statistics are 00:16:11.379 --> 00:16:14.059 just relentless. Oh, yeah. He opens the season 00:16:14.059 --> 00:16:17.120 in November by dropping a career -high 28 points 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:20.539 on Lafayette while adding seven rebounds, five 00:16:20.539 --> 00:16:23.659 assists, four steals, and a block. Just total 00:16:23.659 --> 00:16:26.240 domination across every single category. Later 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:28.740 in the year, he ties that 28 -point mark again 00:16:28.740 --> 00:16:31.759 against Elon. But what really stands out is his 00:16:31.759 --> 00:16:34.340 absolute grip on the Player of the Week awards. 00:16:34.860 --> 00:16:37.779 His consistency was unparalleled that year. He 00:16:37.779 --> 00:16:39.399 wins Ivy League Player of the Week on December 00:16:39.399 --> 00:16:42.440 10. Then he wins it again on December 17. And 00:16:42.440 --> 00:16:45.720 again on December 24. He became the first Princeton 00:16:45.720 --> 00:16:47.840 Tiger in the history of the program to earn the 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:50.379 recognition three consecutive weeks. Winning 00:16:50.379 --> 00:16:52.100 it three weeks in a row is crazy. But wait, let 00:16:52.100 --> 00:16:54.279 me ask you about this. If you win Player of the 00:16:54.279 --> 00:16:57.860 Week three times in December, every single opposing 00:16:57.860 --> 00:17:00.460 coach in the Ivy League is spending their entire 00:17:00.460 --> 00:17:04.059 week figuring out how to stop you. Right, you're 00:17:04.059 --> 00:17:06.059 at the top of the scouting report. They are throwing 00:17:06.059 --> 00:17:09.380 double teams at you, denying you the ball, changing 00:17:09.380 --> 00:17:11.500 their defensive schemes entirely just for you. 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:14.880 How does a player continue to put up those numbers 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:17.680 when the entire gym knows he's the primary threat? 00:17:28.279 --> 00:17:47.599 He was outsmarting them. Exactly. Adaptability 00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:49.900 allowed him to win Player of the Week again on 00:17:49.900 --> 00:17:53.720 January 7, then February 4, then February 25, 00:17:53.940 --> 00:17:57.099 and finally on March 4. Seven times in a single 00:17:57.099 --> 00:17:59.579 season. Unbelievable. They might as well have 00:17:59.579 --> 00:18:02.539 renamed it the Ian Hummer Award. Setting a new 00:18:02.539 --> 00:18:05.220 single season record with seven awards and tying 00:18:05.220 --> 00:18:08.539 the all -time Ivy League career record with nine. 00:18:08.839 --> 00:18:11.759 Yeah. And as he's collecting these awards, he 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:14.960 is matching the ultimate benchmark. He joins 00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:17.619 Bill Bradley as the only two players in the history 00:18:17.619 --> 00:18:21.119 of Princeton basketball to record 1 ,300 career 00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:25.180 points and 600 career rebounds. It is an exclusive 00:18:25.180 --> 00:18:28.380 club of two. Yeah. And he continued to climb 00:18:28.380 --> 00:18:31.720 the historical ladders during a crucial 58 -53 00:18:31.720 --> 00:18:34.720 victory over Harvard late in the season. He posted 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:38.039 a massive double -double with 23 points and 14 00:18:38.039 --> 00:18:41.200 rebounds. In a huge game. Right. With that performance, 00:18:41.380 --> 00:18:43.640 he passed Kit Mahler and Doug Davis to move into 00:18:43.640 --> 00:18:45.559 second place on the all -time Princeton career 00:18:45.559 --> 00:18:47.640 scoring list. Second only to Bill Bradley. Yeah. 00:18:47.720 --> 00:18:50.180 And he passed Doug Davis for the most games played 00:18:50.180 --> 00:18:52.660 in Ivy League history, which just speaks volumes 00:18:52.660 --> 00:18:55.099 about his toughness. His durability was amazing. 00:18:55.460 --> 00:18:58.259 He was never injured. He never took a night off. 00:18:58.809 --> 00:19:01.410 The season ends with him being named a unanimous 00:19:01.410 --> 00:19:04.269 first -team All -Ivy selection, the Ivy League 00:19:04.269 --> 00:19:06.789 Player of the Year, which was the first for Princeton 00:19:06.789 --> 00:19:10.170 since 1999, and he earns an Associated Press 00:19:10.170 --> 00:19:13.269 honorable mention All -American nod. It is a 00:19:13.269 --> 00:19:16.509 collegiate masterpiece. He essentially completed 00:19:16.509 --> 00:19:19.769 college basketball. He took a perceived physical 00:19:19.769 --> 00:19:22.490 limitation from high school, found the perfect 00:19:22.490 --> 00:19:24.789 environment to leverage his unique intelligence 00:19:24.789 --> 00:19:27.849 and versatility, and etched his name permanently 00:19:27.849 --> 00:19:30.069 into the history books of one of the nation's 00:19:30.069 --> 00:19:33.349 most prestigious institutions. But the transition 00:19:33.349 --> 00:19:36.569 from collegiate legend to professional athlete. 00:19:36.970 --> 00:19:39.490 is rarely a seamless continuation. Right. You 00:19:39.490 --> 00:19:41.430 are an All -American. You are the Ivy League 00:19:41.430 --> 00:19:44.049 Player of the Year. The next logical step in 00:19:44.049 --> 00:19:45.809 the American sports dream is hearing your name 00:19:45.809 --> 00:19:49.329 called in the NBA draft. Exactly. But in 2013... 00:19:49.529 --> 00:19:51.910 Ian Hummer goes undrafted. He gets an invite 00:19:51.910 --> 00:19:54.029 to the Los Angeles Lakers summer league team, 00:19:54.109 --> 00:19:56.509 but he doesn't secure a spot on the regular season 00:19:56.509 --> 00:19:59.089 roster. I imagine that has to be an incredibly 00:19:59.089 --> 00:20:02.170 tough emotional pivot. You reach the absolute 00:20:02.170 --> 00:20:05.569 mountaintop of college and suddenly the primary 00:20:05.569 --> 00:20:09.009 door to the pros is closed. It is a harsh reality 00:20:09.009 --> 00:20:11.609 check that many elite college athletes face. 00:20:11.869 --> 00:20:15.609 The NBA is a league of profound scarcity. There 00:20:15.609 --> 00:20:17.650 are only a few hundred roster spots available 00:20:17.650 --> 00:20:20.329 globally. Yeah. The math is brutal. Very brutal. 00:20:20.549 --> 00:20:23.470 When that door doesn't immediately open an athlete 00:20:23.470 --> 00:20:27.019 faces a critical choice. abandon the dream, or 00:20:27.019 --> 00:20:29.940 pivot to the international market. Hummer chose 00:20:29.940 --> 00:20:32.400 the latter, embarking on what would become a 00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:35.619 massive, decade -long global odyssey. So what 00:20:35.619 --> 00:20:37.400 does this all mean for his day -to -day life? 00:20:37.559 --> 00:20:39.519 Let's talk about the sheer logistics of his international 00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:41.859 basketball career path, because it is staggering 00:20:41.859 --> 00:20:45.240 to look at. It really is. In January 2014, he 00:20:45.240 --> 00:20:48.180 signs with a team in Germany. By August of that 00:20:48.180 --> 00:20:50.799 same year, he is playing in Finland. Right. In 00:20:50.799 --> 00:20:53.200 2016, he heads back to Germany, then moves to 00:20:53.200 --> 00:20:56.519 Turkey. In 2017, he signs in Russia. In 2018, 00:20:56.700 --> 00:20:58.819 he is playing for Monaco in France. Keeping track 00:20:58.819 --> 00:21:01.339 of the passports alone is crazy. Oh, it keeps 00:21:01.339 --> 00:21:04.519 going. In 2019, he is back in Russia, then back 00:21:04.519 --> 00:21:07.640 to Turkey. In 2020, Germany again, followed by 00:21:07.640 --> 00:21:10.480 another stint in Turkey. In 2021, he heads to 00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:14.579 Greece. In 2022, back to Turkey. In 2023, he 00:21:14.579 --> 00:21:17.630 plays in Greece and then heads to Japan. And 00:21:17.630 --> 00:21:19.690 recently he's played in Australia and Hong Kong. 00:21:19.890 --> 00:21:22.710 It is an incredible geographic footprint. He 00:21:22.710 --> 00:21:25.890 is the definition of an overseas basketball journeyman. 00:21:26.049 --> 00:21:28.470 But I have to stop and ask why. Yeah. If he's 00:21:28.470 --> 00:21:31.109 putting up solid numbers, why is he packing his 00:21:31.109 --> 00:21:33.950 bags every single season? Is there a flaw in 00:21:33.950 --> 00:21:35.890 his game that prevents teams from keeping him? 00:21:36.150 --> 00:21:38.710 Or is the international system just inherently 00:21:38.710 --> 00:21:40.970 designed against long -term stability? That's 00:21:40.970 --> 00:21:42.890 a great question. Like why not sign a guy to 00:21:42.890 --> 00:21:44.690 a three -year contract if he's performing well? 00:21:44.970 --> 00:21:47.250 It really strikes at the heart of European and 00:21:47.250 --> 00:21:49.289 international basketball economics. The system 00:21:49.289 --> 00:21:51.849 is almost entirely built on short term, high 00:21:51.849 --> 00:21:55.029 stakes cycles. How so? Unlike the NBA, where 00:21:55.029 --> 00:21:57.369 franchises have massive guaranteed television 00:21:57.369 --> 00:21:59.849 revenue and salary caps that encourage long term 00:21:59.849 --> 00:22:02.150 roster building, the vast majority of international 00:22:02.150 --> 00:22:05.150 clubs operate on strict year to year budgets. 00:22:05.450 --> 00:22:08.589 Oh, so they literally don't know how much money 00:22:08.589 --> 00:22:10.309 they will have to spend next season. Exactly. 00:22:11.130 --> 00:22:13.990 Their budgets are often tied to immediate performance. 00:22:14.390 --> 00:22:17.269 In many European leagues, there is a system of 00:22:17.269 --> 00:22:20.250 promotion and relegation. Like in European soccer? 00:22:20.690 --> 00:22:23.329 Precisely like soccer. If your team finishes 00:22:23.329 --> 00:22:25.549 at the bottom of the league, you are demoted 00:22:25.549 --> 00:22:28.190 to a lower division, which means massive financial 00:22:28.190 --> 00:22:31.920 losses. Because of this pressure, contracts are 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:35.019 overwhelmingly one year deals. OK. That makes 00:22:35.019 --> 00:22:37.559 sense. So if a player like Hummer goes to a mid 00:22:37.559 --> 00:22:40.700 tier team in Turkey and plays exceptionally well 00:22:40.700 --> 00:22:43.500 his market value immediately increases. Right. 00:22:43.640 --> 00:22:46.119 The mid tier team usually can't afford to resign 00:22:46.119 --> 00:22:49.099 him at his new price. So he leverages that success 00:22:49.099 --> 00:22:52.059 to sign a more lucrative one year deal with a 00:22:52.059 --> 00:22:54.900 wealthier club in Russia or France. So it's constant 00:22:54.900 --> 00:22:58.160 upward mobility or lateral movement. If a team 00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:00.579 decides to overhaul their roster. Exactly. You 00:23:00.579 --> 00:23:02.599 essentially have to prove your worth every single 00:23:02.599 --> 00:23:04.480 day to ensure you have a job eight months from 00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:06.859 now. And he is doing this in some of the absolute 00:23:06.859 --> 00:23:09.539 toughest domestic leagues on the planet. We are 00:23:09.539 --> 00:23:11.880 talking about the German Basketball Bundesliga, 00:23:12.039 --> 00:23:15.720 the Turkish Basketball Super League, the VTB 00:23:15.720 --> 00:23:19.059 United League in Russia, the LMB Pro A in France, 00:23:19.359 --> 00:23:22.740 the Greek Basket League, the Japanese B League, 00:23:23.059 --> 00:23:26.509 and the Australian NBL. The tactical adaptability 00:23:26.509 --> 00:23:28.769 required to navigate that sequence of leagues 00:23:28.769 --> 00:23:31.730 is immense. I can't even imagine. A fan might 00:23:31.730 --> 00:23:33.430 look at that list and just see basketball. Yeah, 00:23:33.470 --> 00:23:35.650 the sources highlight this. For instance, during 00:23:35.650 --> 00:23:39.769 the 2021 to 2022 season, while playing for Ikekei 00:23:39.769 --> 00:23:43.170 Athens in the Greek Basket League, which is notoriously 00:23:43.170 --> 00:23:45.950 defensive and half -court oriented, he averaged 00:23:45.950 --> 00:23:50.549 13 .4 points, 6 .4 rebounds, 2 .3 assists, and 00:23:50.549 --> 00:23:54.150 1 .7 steals per game. That's really solid. Those 00:23:54.150 --> 00:23:55.599 are phenomenal. Phenomenal numbers in a league 00:23:55.599 --> 00:23:58.460 that makes scoring very difficult. And it proves 00:23:58.460 --> 00:24:00.500 that his core basketball intelligence translated 00:24:00.500 --> 00:24:03.319 universally. It proves his game travels. Definitely. 00:24:03.460 --> 00:24:05.420 But we have to look at the human element here, 00:24:05.480 --> 00:24:08.569 the psychological toll. How does a person maintain 00:24:08.569 --> 00:24:11.069 their mental focus, their physical health, and 00:24:11.069 --> 00:24:14.250 any concept of home when their employer, their 00:24:14.250 --> 00:24:16.869 teammates, and their country of residence change 00:24:16.869 --> 00:24:19.309 every 8 to 12 months? It takes a special kind 00:24:19.309 --> 00:24:21.250 of person. You are dealing with different languages, 00:24:21.430 --> 00:24:23.049 different cultural norms, different currencies. 00:24:23.150 --> 00:24:25.769 You are living out of suitcases, thousands of 00:24:25.769 --> 00:24:28.349 miles away from your family. It requires a profound 00:24:28.349 --> 00:24:31.690 level of compartmentalization. To survive a decade 00:24:31.690 --> 00:24:33.930 in that environment, you have to become an absolute 00:24:33.930 --> 00:24:37.150 expert in rapid acclimation. The basketball port 00:24:37.150 --> 00:24:40.190 has to become your only constant, the only universal 00:24:40.190 --> 00:24:42.210 language that actually makes sense. You learn 00:24:42.210 --> 00:24:45.410 to find routine within the chaos. Right. But 00:24:45.410 --> 00:24:48.670 beyond the logistical challenges, living a nomadic 00:24:48.670 --> 00:24:51.630 lifestyle for 10 years fundamentally alters your 00:24:51.630 --> 00:24:54.380 identity. You are no longer just a kid from the 00:24:54.380 --> 00:24:58.339 D .C. area. Your worldview expands exponentially. 00:24:58.380 --> 00:25:01.200 Which perfectly sets up the fascinating twist 00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:03.720 in the late stages of his career. Yes, the international 00:25:03.720 --> 00:25:06.279 plot twist. His official nationality is now listed 00:25:06.279 --> 00:25:09.579 in the sources as American Azerbaijani. Yeah. 00:25:09.880 --> 00:25:13.299 And in 2024, Ian Hummer debuted for the Azerbaijan 00:25:13.299 --> 00:25:16.339 men's national basketball team and the European 00:25:16.339 --> 00:25:20.119 pre -qualifiers for the 2027 FIBA Basketball 00:25:20.119 --> 00:25:22.349 World Cup. It's quite a jump. Let's just pause 00:25:22.349 --> 00:25:24.109 and appreciate the distance traveled here. A 00:25:24.109 --> 00:25:26.490 kid from Vienna, Virginia, who played high school 00:25:26.490 --> 00:25:28.670 ball in D .C. and college ball in New Jersey, 00:25:28.769 --> 00:25:31.589 is now putting on a jersey to represent Azerbaijan 00:25:31.589 --> 00:25:34.630 on the global stage. Right. How does the mechanics 00:25:34.630 --> 00:25:36.809 of this actually work? If we connect this to 00:25:36.809 --> 00:25:39.130 the bigger picture, it is a brilliant illustration 00:25:39.130 --> 00:25:42.390 of the globalization of basketball and the specific 00:25:42.390 --> 00:25:45.329 mechanisms of FIBA, the international governing 00:25:45.329 --> 00:25:47.730 body for the sport. Okay. Break that down for 00:25:47.730 --> 00:25:51.690 us. Under FIBA regulations, a national team is 00:25:51.690 --> 00:25:54.490 allowed to have one naturalized player on their 00:25:54.490 --> 00:25:57.609 roster who acquired the legal nationality of 00:25:57.609 --> 00:26:00.569 that country after the age of 16. Just one. Just 00:26:00.569 --> 00:26:03.829 one per team. This loophole has created a mutually 00:26:03.829 --> 00:26:06.809 beneficial, highly strategic practice across 00:26:06.809 --> 00:26:09.170 international basketball. Let me make sure I 00:26:09.170 --> 00:26:12.829 understand this. A country like Azerbaijan realizes 00:26:12.829 --> 00:26:16.230 they need a high -level big man to compete in 00:26:16.230 --> 00:26:18.420 European qualifiers. Right. So they look at the 00:26:18.420 --> 00:26:20.420 landscape of American professionals playing overseas. 00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:23.359 They identify a veteran like Hummer, who has 00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:25.700 a proven track record of adapting to European 00:26:25.700 --> 00:26:28.319 play. And they essentially recruit him to become 00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:30.759 a citizen. Precisely. For the emerging basketball 00:26:30.759 --> 00:26:33.259 nation, it provides an immediate high -level 00:26:33.259 --> 00:26:36.160 talent injection at a position of need. It elevates 00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:38.500 the entire national program. And what's in it 00:26:38.500 --> 00:26:40.900 for the player? For a player like Hummer, it 00:26:40.900 --> 00:26:43.559 offers an incredible set of opportunities. First, 00:26:43.740 --> 00:26:45.839 it grants them a second passport. Which is valuable. 00:26:46.160 --> 00:26:48.859 Incredibly valuable. In many European leagues, 00:26:49.079 --> 00:26:51.680 there are strict limits on the number of import 00:26:51.680 --> 00:26:55.420 or American players a team can have. Ah, quotas. 00:26:55.480 --> 00:26:58.920 Yes, import quotas. Having a European or Asian 00:26:58.920 --> 00:27:01.740 passport can drastically increase a player's 00:27:01.740 --> 00:27:03.940 value on the open market because they no longer 00:27:03.940 --> 00:27:06.339 count against that quota. That is incredibly 00:27:06.339 --> 00:27:09.809 smart business. It is highly strategic. And secondly, 00:27:09.970 --> 00:27:12.589 it allows the player to compete in prestigious 00:27:12.589 --> 00:27:15.210 international tournaments. You get the opportunity 00:27:15.210 --> 00:27:17.829 to play in World Cup qualifiers, experiencing 00:27:17.829 --> 00:27:21.210 the unique intensity of national team basketball 00:27:21.210 --> 00:27:24.589 representing a country on the global stage. It 00:27:24.589 --> 00:27:27.329 really is the ultimate cosmopolitan athlete experience. 00:27:27.650 --> 00:27:29.970 Very much so. He is a global citizen of the sport. 00:27:30.170 --> 00:27:33.549 It just shows how vast the basketball world is 00:27:33.549 --> 00:27:36.210 and how far the game can take you if you are 00:27:36.210 --> 00:27:38.250 willing to adapt to its demands. Definitely. 00:27:38.539 --> 00:27:40.259 you look back at everything we've unpacked today, 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:43.279 it's just a phenomenal grinding journey. It truly 00:27:43.279 --> 00:27:45.880 is. We have traced a path from a high school 00:27:45.880 --> 00:27:48.400 player who was dismissed by power conferences 00:27:48.400 --> 00:27:51.720 for being undersized and supposedly lacking a 00:27:51.720 --> 00:27:54.480 perimeter skill set. Instead of fading away, 00:27:54.740 --> 00:27:57.259 he capitalized on the perfect collegiate fit. 00:27:57.420 --> 00:28:00.279 He embraced the immense historical weight of 00:28:00.279 --> 00:28:02.960 the Hummer family legacy at Princeton, shattered 00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:06.400 decades -old records, and cemented his name permanently 00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:09.150 alongside Bill Bradley. And when the traditional 00:28:09.150 --> 00:28:11.869 NBA path didn't materialize, he didn't quit. 00:28:11.970 --> 00:28:14.970 Not at all. He took his game to Germany, Finland, 00:28:15.309 --> 00:28:20.769 Turkey, Russia, France, Greece, Japan. Australia 00:28:20.769 --> 00:28:24.289 and Hong Kong. He built a decade -long, globe 00:28:24.289 --> 00:28:26.630 -spanning career that the vast majority of basketball 00:28:26.630 --> 00:28:29.349 players can only dream of experiencing. It's 00:28:29.349 --> 00:28:31.710 an incredible resume. It is a massive testament 00:28:31.710 --> 00:28:34.069 to the value of finding the right fit rather 00:28:34.069 --> 00:28:36.309 than the biggest fit and the relentless, tough 00:28:36.309 --> 00:28:38.269 adaptability required to be a true professional. 00:28:38.750 --> 00:28:41.170 That adaptability is precisely the concept I 00:28:41.170 --> 00:28:42.869 want to leave our listeners with today. Go ahead. 00:28:43.009 --> 00:28:44.470 This raises an important question, something 00:28:44.470 --> 00:28:46.769 for you to mull over after we sign off. Consider 00:28:46.769 --> 00:28:49.609 the sheer volume of different offensive schemes, 00:28:50.049 --> 00:28:53.390 defensive systems, foreign languages, and cultural 00:28:53.390 --> 00:28:56.210 norms that Ian Hummer has had to absorb and master 00:28:56.210 --> 00:28:59.130 over the last 10 years. It's mind -blowing. In 00:28:59.130 --> 00:29:01.410 our modern society, we frequently praise people 00:29:01.410 --> 00:29:04.390 for job loyalty, for staying in one place, or 00:29:04.390 --> 00:29:06.730 for finding a single permanent home in their 00:29:06.730 --> 00:29:08.390 career. Right, climbing the corporate ladder 00:29:08.390 --> 00:29:10.650 at one company. Exactly. But what can we learn 00:29:10.650 --> 00:29:13.609 from the extreme adaptability of the global journeyman 00:29:13.609 --> 00:29:16.609 athlete? Does constantly changing your environment 00:29:16.609 --> 00:29:19.869 prevent you from ever truly settling down? Or 00:29:19.869 --> 00:29:22.509 is the constant friction of the unknown the very 00:29:22.509 --> 00:29:25.109 thing that keeps your skills sharp, your mind 00:29:25.109 --> 00:29:27.990 engaged, and your career thriving? That is a 00:29:27.990 --> 00:29:30.089 brilliant thought to end on. Does the comfort 00:29:30.089 --> 00:29:32.670 of staying in one place make us complacent? And 00:29:32.670 --> 00:29:34.910 does the challenge of the unknown keep us elite? 00:29:35.369 --> 00:29:38.269 Exactly. It's a question we can all apply, whether 00:29:38.269 --> 00:29:40.930 we're navigating a new corporate job or playing 00:29:40.930 --> 00:29:43.470 power forward in Azerbaijan. Well said. Thank 00:29:43.470 --> 00:29:45.369 you so much for joining us on this exploration 00:29:45.369 --> 00:29:48.130 of the global odyssey and Ivy League legacy of 00:29:48.130 --> 00:29:50.799 Ian Hummer. We love taking these deep dives with 00:29:50.799 --> 00:29:53.099 you, unpacking the facts and finding the human 00:29:53.099 --> 00:29:56.079 stories hidden inside the statistics. Until next 00:29:56.079 --> 00:29:58.440 time, keep questioning, keep learning, and we 00:29:58.440 --> 00:30:00.140 will catch you on the next deep dive.