1947 BAA draft
1947 BAA draft | |
---|---|
General information | |
Sport | Basketball |
Date(s) | July 1, 1947 |
Location | Detroit, Michigan |
Overview | |
80 total selections in 10 rounds | |
League | BAA/NBA |
First selection | Clifton McNeely, Pittsburgh Ironmen |
The 1947 BAA draft was the 1st draft of the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which later became the National Basketball Association (NBA). The fledgling BAA held a joint draft with the established National Basketball League (NBL). Both leagues wanted to control salaries by stamping out competitive bidding by assigning exclusive rights to the team selecting a player. The NBL had already signed 11 players, whom they did not feel should be exposed to the draft. The players included college stars Jack Smiley, Ralph Hamilton, Harry Boykoff, John Hargis, Frank Brian, and Charlie Black. As a trade-off, the BAA teams were allowed to select players before the NBL.[1]
The draft was held on July 1, 1947, before the 1947–48 season. The nine remaining BAA teams along with the Baltimore Bullets who joined from the American Basketball League, took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players. In the first round of the draft, the teams selected in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season, while the Bullets were assigned the tenth pick, the last pick of the first round. Both the Pittsburgh Ironmen and Toronto Huskies participated in this draft, but they folded before the season opened.
Draft selections and draftee career notes[]
The first selection of the draft, Clifton McNeely from Texas Wesleyan University, did not play in the BAA. Instead, McNeely opted for a high school coaching career in Texas.[2] The fourth pick, Walt Dropo, also did not play in the BAA and opted for a professional baseball career instead, eventually playing 13 seasons in the Major League Baseball (MLB).[3][4] The 7th and 10th picks, Jack Underman and Larry Killick, also never played in the BAA. Three players from this draft, Harry Gallatin, Andy Phillip and Jim Pollard, have been inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame.[5]
Wataru Misaka, selected by the New York Knicks,[6] made the team's final roster and became the first person of color to play in modern professional basketball, just months after the Major League Baseball color line had been broken by the Brooklyn Dodgers' Jackie Robinson.[7] Misaka was cut after playing only three games with the team.[8]
Key[]
Pos. | G | F | C |
Position | Guard | Forward | Center |
^ | Denotes player who has been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |
* | Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game and All-NBA Team |
+ | Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game |
# | Denotes player who has never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game |
Draft[]
Rnd. | Pick | Player | Pos. | Nationality[n 1] | Team | School / club team |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Clifton McNeely# | F | ![]() |
Pittsburgh Ironmen | Texas Wesleyan |
1 | 2 | Glen Selbo | G/F | ![]() |
Toronto Huskies | Wisconsin |
1 | 3 | Bulbs Ehlers | G/F | ![]() |
Boston Celtics | Purdue |
1 | 4 | Walt Dropo# | – | ![]() |
Providence Steamrollers | Connecticut |
1 | 5 | Dick Holub | C | ![]() |
New York Knicks | Long Island |
1 | 6 | Chink Crossin | G | ![]() |
Philadelphia Warriors | Pennsylvania |
1 | 7 | Jack Underman# | – | ![]() |
St. Louis Bombers | Ohio State |
1 | 8 | Paul Huston | F | ![]() |
Chicago Stags | Ohio State |
1 | 9 | Dick O'Keefe | G/F | ![]() |
Washington Capitols | Santa Clara |
1 | 10 | Larry Killick# | – | ![]() |
Baltimore Bullets | Vermont |
Other picks[]
The following list includes other draft picks who have appeared in at least one BAA/NBA game.[9][10]
Rnd. | Pick | Player | Pos. | Nationality[n 1] | Team | School / club team |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 | 11 | Fritz Nagy | G/F | ![]() |
Pittsburgh Ironmen | Akron |
2 | 12 | Red Rocha+ | F/C | ![]() |
Toronto Huskies | Oregon State |
2 | 13 | Hank Biasatti | G | ![]() ![]() |
Boston Celtics | Toronto Huskies (Basketball Association of America) |
2 | 14 | Bob Hubbard | F/C | ![]() |
Providence Steamrollers | Springfield |
2 | 18 | Ben Schadler | F | ![]() |
Chicago Stags | Northwestern |
2 | 19 | Jack Tingle | F | ![]() |
Washington Capitols | Kentucky |
3 | 23 | Gene Stump | G/F | ![]() |
Boston Celtics | DePaul |
3 | 28 | Jimmy Darden | G | ![]() |
Chicago Stags | Denver |
4 | 33 | Johnny Ezersky | G/F | ![]() |
Boston Celtics | Brooklyn Gothams (American Basketball League) |
4 | 38 | Gene Vance | G/F | ![]() |
Chicago Stags | Illinois |
4 | 40 | Harry Gallatin^ | F/C | ![]() |
Baltimore Bullets | Northeast Missouri |
5 | 42 | Paul Hoffman | G/F | ![]() |
Toronto Huskies | Purdue |
5 | 43 | Jack Hewson | F/C | ![]() |
Boston Celtics | Philadelphia Sphas (American Basketball League) |
5 | 45 | Ron Livingstone | C | ![]() |
New York Knicks | Wyoming |
5 | 47 | Andy Phillip^ | G/F | ![]() |
Chicago Stags | Illinois |
5 | 48 | Matt Zunic | G/F | ![]() |
Washington Capitols | George Washington |
6 | 53 | Andy Duncan | F/C | ![]() |
New York Knicks | William & Mary |
6 | 54 | Paul Napolitano | G/F | ![]() |
St. Louis Bombers | San Francisco |
6 | 56 | Irv Rothenberg | C | ![]() |
Washington Capitols | Cleveland Rebels (Basketball Association of America) |
7 | 61 | Wataru Misaka | G | ![]() |
New York Knicks | Utah |
7 | 62 | Jim Pollard^ | F/C | ![]() |
Chicago Stags | Stanford |
7 | 63 | Saul Mariaschin | G | ![]() |
Washington Capitols | Harvard |
8 | 68 | Don Smith | G/F | ![]() |
Chicago Stags | Indianapolis Kautskys (National Basketball League) |
8 | 69 | Paul Cloyd | G/F | ![]() |
Washington Capitols | Wisconsin |
8 | 70 | Elmer Gainer | F/C | ![]() |
Baltimore Bullets | Anderson Packers (National Basketball League) |
9 | 74 | John Mandic | F/C | ![]() |
Washington Capitols | Portland Indians (Pacific Coast Professional Basketball League) |
9 | 75 | Chick Reiser | G/F | ![]() |
Baltimore Bullets | Fort Wayne Pistons (National Basketball League) |
Notable undrafted players[]
These players were not selected in the 1947 draft, but played at least one game in the NBA.
Player | Pos. | Nationality | School/club team |
---|---|---|---|
Don Barksdale^ | F/C | ![]() |
UCLA |
Charles B. Black | F/C | ![]() |
Kansas |
Jake Bornheimer | F/C | ![]() |
Muhlenberg |
Harry Boykoff | C | ![]() |
St. John's |
Carl Braun^ | G | ![]() |
Colgate |
Fran Curran | G | ![]() |
Notre Dame |
Jack Dwan | F/G | ![]() |
Loyola (IL) |
Hoot Gibson | F/C | ![]() |
Creighton |
Ralph Hamilton | G/F | ![]() |
Indiana |
John Hargis | G/F | ![]() |
Texas |
Doug Holcomb | F | ![]() |
Wisconsin |
Boag Johnson | G | ![]() |
Huntington |
Walt Kirk | G | ![]() |
Illinois |
Bob Knight | G/F | ![]() |
Weaver HS (Hartford, Connecticut) |
Ray Kuka | F | ![]() |
Montana State |
Walt Lautenbach | G/F | ![]() |
Wisconsin |
Matt Mazza | G/F | ![]() |
Michigan State |
Dick Mehen | F/C | ![]() |
Tennessee |
Ken Menke | G | ![]() |
Illinois |
Fred Paine | F | ![]() |
Westminster (PA) |
Les Pugh | F/C | ![]() |
Ohio State |
Ray Ramsey | G/F | ![]() |
Bradley |
Lee Robbins | F | ![]() |
Colorado |
Gene Rock | G | ![]() |
USC |
Jack Rocker | F/C | ![]() |
California |
Jack Smiley | F/G | ![]() |
Illinois |
Jim Springer | C | ![]() |
Canterbury |
Sid Tanenbaum | G/F | ![]() |
NYU |
Mike Todorovich | F/C | ![]() |
Wyoming |
Jack Toomay | F/C | ![]() |
Pacific |
Floyd Volker | F/C | ![]() |
Wyoming |
Danny Wagner | G | ![]() |
Texas |
Notes[]
See also[]
References[]
- General
- "1947 BAA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved September 11, 2009.
- "1947–1948 BAA Drafts, 1949–1951 NBA Drafts". The Association for Professional Basketball Research. Retrieved September 11, 2009.
- Specific
- ^ Bradley, Robert D. (2013). The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts. Scarecrow Press. pp. 1–2. ISBN 9780810890695.
- ^ Cook, Bob (September 13, 2007). "Oden's injury a cruel blow for cursed Blazers". NBCSports.com. NBC Universal. Archived from the original on September 13, 2009. Retrieved September 11, 2009.
- ^ Montville, Leigh (July 19, 1993). "What Ever Happened To...: Walt Dropo". Sports Illustrated. Time Inc. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
- ^ "Walt Dropo Bio". baseball-reference.com. Archived from the original on 20 October 2009. Retrieved September 11, 2009.
- ^ "Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Inductees". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
- ^ Wertheim, Jon (February 11, 2012). "Decades before Lin's rise, Misaka made history for Asian-Americans". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
- ^ Goldstein, Richard (November 26, 2019). "Wat Misaka, 95, First Nonwhite in Modern Pro Basketball, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
- ^ Vecsey, George (August 10, 2009). "Pioneering Knick Returns to Garden". The New York Times. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
- ^ "1947 BAA Draft".
- ^ "NBA Past Drafts - RealGM".
External links[]
- 1947–48 BAA season
- Basketball Association of America draft
- National Basketball Association draft
- National Basketball Association lists