1947 BAA draft
| 1947 BAA draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Date(s) | July 1, 1947 |
| Location | Detroit, Michigan |
| First selection | Clifton McNeely, Pittsburgh Ironmen |
|
BAA draft 1948 → | |
The 1947 BAA draft was the inaugural 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 select 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 pick, Jack Underman and Larry Killick, were 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]
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 never played in the NBA regular season or playoffs |
Draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Team | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Clifton McNeely# | – | Pittsburgh Ironmen | Texas Wesleyan[6] |
| 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.[7][8]
Notable undrafted players
These players were not selected in the 1947 draft, but played at least one game in the NBA.
| Player | Position | College |
|---|---|---|
| Don Barksdale^ | F/C | UCLA |
| Charles B. Black | F/C | Kansas |
| Jake Bornheimer | F/C | Muhlenberg |
| 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 |
| Doug Holcomb | F | Wisconsin |
| Walt Kirk | G | Illinois |
| Ray Kuka | F | Montana State |
| 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 |
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.
- ↑ Diepenbrock, R.J. (December 29, 2003). "Clifton McNeely". amarillo.com. Amarillo Globe-News. Archived from the original on 2009-09-22. Retrieved September 19, 2009.
- ↑ https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/BAA_1947.html
- ↑ http://basketball.realgm.com/nba/draft/past_drafts/1947