John D. Azary (October 14, 1929 – September 16, 1981) was an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for Columbia College (now Columbia University) from 1948 to 1951. Azary was born in the Bronx, New York, to Hungarian immigrants who became naturalized American citizens. He was raised in New York City. At 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m), he played the guard position, and when deciding on where to attend college, he chose to stay in the city to attend Columbia. At the time, college freshmen were not eligible to play varsity sports, so Azary's career actually began when he was a sophomore in 1948–49. In his first season, he scored 298 points in 20 games, which gave him a new school record for a first season scoring average at 14.9 points per game. This average surpassed Walt