John Adams (April 9, 1917 – June 1979) was an American basketball player. He was an All-American player at Arkansas in the 1940s. Adams is one of several men credited with creating the jump shot in basketball. John Adams, a 6'3 guard/forward, grew up in El Paso, Arkansas and starred for two years at El Paso High School. He was then recruited away to Beebe High School in nearby Beebe. It was under the low ceilings of Beebe High home court where Adams learned to flatten the trajectory of his shot, becoming one of the early pioneers of the jump shot.