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1947 BAA draft

{{short description|Basketball player selection}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{Infobox sports draft

| name = 1947 BAA draft

| logo =

| logosize =

| caption =

| sport = Basketball

| date = June 2, 1947{{cite book|last=Bradley|first=Robert D.|title=The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts|year=2013|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810890695}}, pg. 1

| location = The Leland Hotel (Detroit, Michigan)

| network =

| league = BAA

| teams =

| overall = 80

| rounds = 10

| first = Clifton McNeely, Pittsburgh Ironmen

| territorial =

| hofnum = {{Collapsible list

| title = 4

|1 = F Harry Gallatin

|2 = G Andy Phillip

|3 = F Jim Pollard

|4 = G Carl Braun}}

| prev =

| next = 1948

}}

The 1947 BAA draft was the first ever draft of the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which later merged with the National Basketball League (NBL) to become the National Basketball Association (NBA). The fledgling BAA held this draft as a joint draft with the established NBL. The BAA first discussed the idea of creating a draft system similar to the NFL draft (which was first implemented back in 1936) back on January 1947 during league meetings held in New York, with each team being given territorial pick rights to one player each year from schools in a 50 mile radius. However, both leagues wanted to control salaries by stamping out competitive bidding between the two leagues from college players that may or may not have been returning home from World War II 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 early on before the NBL did. Including the NBL's draft side of things (which saw at least ten teams of their own participate in the event themselves), the overall draft program would have included 100 players (mainly college seniors) drafted between the two leagues.{{cite book|last=Bradley|first=Robert D.|title=The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts|pages=1–2|year=2013|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810890695|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m99DCaqGoQ8C&q=The%20Basketball%20Draft%20Fact%20Book&pg=PA1 }}

The draft was held on June 2, 1947, months before the 1947–48 season began. During this draft, the nine remaining BAA teams (both the Cleveland Rebels and Detroit Falcons decided to decline their entries into the draft while still remaining as existing franchises at the time) along with the Baltimore Bullets, who joined the BAA from the American Basketball League after a dispute they had during the ABL playoffs with that 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, due in part to their overwhelming 31–3 record they had in the ABL beating out even the 49–11 record held by the Washington Capitols. Both the Pittsburgh Ironmen and Toronto Huskies participated in this draft, but they folded before the season opened alongside the Cleveland Rebels and Detroit Falcons.

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.{{cite web |url=http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/20763763/site/21683474/ |title=Oden's injury a cruel blow for cursed Blazers |last=Cook |first=Bob |work=NBCSports.com |publisher=NBC Universal |date=September 13, 2007 |access-date=September 11, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221120642/http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/20763763/site/21683474/ |archive-date=February 21, 2009 |url-status=dead }} 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).{{cite web|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1138469/index.htm|title=What Ever Happened To...: Walt Dropo|publisher=Time Inc|work=Sports Illustrated|date=July 19, 1993|first=Leigh|last=Montville|access-date=September 10, 2009|archive-date=October 25, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025084921/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1138469/index.htm|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/dropowa01.shtml |title=Walt Dropo Bio |work=baseball-reference.com |access-date=September 11, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091020131851/http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/dropowa01.shtml |archive-date=20 October 2009 |url-status=live }} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/hof.html|title=Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Inductees|work=basketball-reference.com|access-date=October 28, 2009}}

Wataru Misaka, selected by the New York Knicks,{{cite magazine|last=Wertheim|first=Jon|title=Decades before Lin's rise, Misaka made history for Asian-Americans|magazine=Sports Illustrated|date=February 11, 2012|url=https://www.si.com/more-sports/2012/02/11/jeremy-linwatarumisaka|accessdate=December 16, 2019}} 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.{{cite news|last=Goldstein|first=Richard|title=Wat Misaka, 95, First Nonwhite in Modern Pro Basketball, Dies|work=The New York Times|date=November 26, 2019|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/21/sports/basketball/wat-misaka-dead.html|accessdate=November 26, 2019}} Misaka was cut after playing only three games with the team.{{cite news|last=Vecsey|first=George|title=Pioneering Knick Returns to Garden|work=The New York Times|date=August 10, 2009|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/sports/basketball/11vecsey.html|accessdate=November 26, 2019}}

Key

class="wikitable"

|width="50"|Pos.

width="50"|Gwidth="50"|Fwidth="50"|C
PositionGuardForwardCenter

{{NBA Draft legend|1=y|2=y|3=y|5=y}}

Draft

class="wikitable sortable"

!style="width:20px;"| {{tooltip|Rnd.|Draft round}}

!style="width:20px;"| {{tooltip|Pick|Overall selection number}}

!style="width:120px;"| Player

!style="width:20px;"| {{tooltip|Pos.|Position(s) played}}

!style="width:100px;"| {{tooltip|Nationality|Player's representative nationality}}{{refn|group=n|name=nationality|Nationality indicates the player's national team or representative nationality. If a player has not competed at the international level, then the nationality indicates the national team which the player is eligible to represent according to FIBA rules.}}

!style="width:300px;"| Team

!style="width:150px;"| {{tooltip|School / club team|Most recent school attended or team played for before the draft}}

align=center|1

| align=center|1

| bgcolor="#C0C0C0"| {{sortname|Clifton|McNeely}}#

| F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Pittsburgh Ironmen

| Texas Wesleyan

align=center|1

| align=center|2

| {{sortname|Glen|Selbo}}

| G/F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Toronto Huskies

| Wisconsin

align=center|1

| align=center|3

| {{sortname|Bulbs|Ehlers}}

| G/F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Boston Celtics

| Purdue

align=center|1

| align=center|4

| bgcolor="#C0C0C0"| {{sortname|Walt|Dropo}}#

| –

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Providence Steamrollers

| Connecticut

align=center|1

| align=center|5

| {{sortname|Dick|Holub}}

| C

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| New York Knicks

| Long Island

align=center|1

| align=center|6

| {{sortname|Chink|Crossin}}

| G

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Philadelphia Warriors

| Pennsylvania

align=center|1

|align=center|7

| bgcolor="#C0C0C0"| {{sortname|Jack|Underman}}#

| –

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| St. Louis Bombers

| Ohio State

align=center|1

| align=center|8

| {{sortname|Paul|Huston|Paul Huston (basketball)}}

| F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Chicago Stags

| Ohio State

align=center|1

| align=center|9

| {{sortname|Dick|O'Keefe}}

| G/F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Washington Capitols

| Santa Clara

align=center|1

| align=center|10

| bgcolor="#C0C0C0"| {{sortname|Larry|Killick}}#

| –

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Baltimore Bullets

| Vermont

Other picks

The following list includes other draft picks who have appeared in at least one BAA/NBA game.{{Cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/BAA_1947.html|title = 1947 BAA Draft}}{{Cite web|url=http://basketball.realgm.com/nba/draft/past_drafts/1947|title = NBA Past Drafts - RealGM}}

class="wikitable sortable"

!style="width:20px;"| {{tooltip|Rnd.|Draft round}}

!style="width:20px;"| {{tooltip|Pick|Overall selection number}}

!style="width:120px;"| Player

!style="width:20px;"| {{tooltip|Pos.|Position(s) played}}

!style="width:100px;"| {{tooltip|Nationality|Player's representative nationality}}{{refn|group=n|name=nationality|Nationality indicates the player's national team or representative nationality. If a player has not competed at the international level, then the nationality indicates the national team which the player is eligible to represent according to FIBA rules.}}

!style="width:300px;"| Team

!style="width:150px;"| {{tooltip|School / club team|Most recent school attended or team played for before the draft}}

align="center" |2

| align="center" |11

| {{sortname|Fritz|Nagy}}

| G/F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

|Pittsburgh Ironmen

| Akron

align="center" |2

| align="center" |12

| bgcolor="#FFCC00" | {{sortname|Red|Rocha}}+

| F/C

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

|Toronto Huskies

| Oregon State

align=center|2

| align=center|13

| {{sortname|Hank|Biasatti}}

| G

| {{flagu|Italy}}
{{flagu|Canada|1921}}

| Boston Celtics

| Toronto Huskies (Basketball Association of America)

align=center|2

| align=center|14

| {{sortname|Bob|Hubbard}}

| F/C

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Providence Steamrollers

| Springfield

align="center" |2

| align="center" |18

| {{sortname|Ben|Schadler}}

| F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Chicago Stags

| Northwestern

align="center" |2

| align="center" |19

| {{sortname|Jack|Tingle}}

| F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Washington Capitols

| Kentucky

align="center" |3

| align="center" |23

| {{sortname|Gene|Stump}}

| G/F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Boston Celtics

| DePaul

align=center|3

| align=center|28

| {{sortname|Jimmy|Darden}}

| G

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Chicago Stags

| Denver

align=center|4

| align=center|33

| {{sortname|Johnny|Ezersky}}

| G/F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Boston Celtics

| Brooklyn Gothams (American Basketball League)

align="center" |4

| align="center" |38

| {{sortname|Gene|Vance}}

| G/F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Chicago Stags

| Illinois

align=center|4

| align=center|40

| bgcolor="#FFFF99"| {{sortname|Harry|Gallatin}}^

| F/C

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Baltimore Bullets

| Northeast Missouri

align=center|5

| align=center|42

| {{sortname|Paul|Hoffman|Paul Hoffman (basketball)}}

| G/F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Toronto Huskies

| Purdue

align=center|5

| align=center|43

| {{sortname|Jack|Hewson}}

| F/C

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Boston Celtics

| Philadelphia Sphas (American Basketball League)

align=center |5

| align=center |45

|Ron Livingstone

|C

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

|New York Knicks

|Wyoming

align="center" |5

| align="center" |47

| bgcolor="#FFFF99" | {{sortname|Andy|Phillip}}^

| G/F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Chicago Stags

| Illinois

align="center" |5

| align="center" |48

| {{sortname|Matt|Zunic}}

| G/F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Washington Capitols

| George Washington

align=center|6

| align=center|53

| {{sortname|Andy|Duncan|dab=basketball}}

| F/C

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| New York Knicks

| William & Mary

align="center" |6

| align="center" |54

| {{sortname|Paul|Napolitano}}

| G/F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

|St. Louis Bombers

| San Francisco

align="center" |6

| align="center" |56

| {{sortname|Irv|Rothenberg}}

| C

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Washington Capitols

| Cleveland Rebels (Basketball Association of America)

align="center" |7

| align="center" |61

| {{sortname|Wataru|Misaka}}

| G

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| New York Knicks

| Utah

align="center" |7

| align="center" |62

| bgcolor="#FFFF99" | {{sortname|Jim|Pollard}}^

| F/C

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Chicago Stags

| Stanford

align="center" |7

| align="center" |63

| {{sortname|Saul|Mariaschin}}

| G

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Washington Capitols

| Harvard

align="center" |8

| align="center" |68

| {{sortname|Don|Smith|Don Smith (basketball, born 1920)}}

| G/F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Chicago Stags

| Indianapolis Kautskys (National Basketball League)

align=center|8

| align=center|69

| {{sortname|Paul|Cloyd}}

| G/F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Washington Capitols

| Wisconsin

align=center|8

| align=center|70

| {{sortname|Elmer|Gainer}}

| F/C

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Baltimore Bullets

| Anderson Packers (National Basketball League)

align="center" |9

| align="center" |74

| {{sortname|John|Mandic}}

| F/C

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Washington Capitols

| Portland Indians (Pacific Coast Professional Basketball League)

align="center" |9

| align="center" |75

| {{sortname|Chick|Reiser}}

| G/F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Baltimore Bullets

| Fort Wayne Pistons (National Basketball League)

Notable undrafted players

{{further|List of undrafted NBA players}}

These players were not selected in the 1947 draft, but played at least one game in the BAA/NBA.

class="wikitable sortable"
style="width:19%;"| Player

!style="width:1%;"| Pos.

!style="width:16%;"| Nationality

!style="width:20%;"| School/club team

bgcolor="#FFCC99"|{{sortname|Don|Barksdale}}+

| F/C

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| UCLA

{{sortname|Charles B.|Black}}

| F/C

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Kansas

{{sortname|Jake|Bornheimer}}

| F/C

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Muhlenberg

{{sortname|Harry|Boykoff}}

| C

|{{flagu|United States|1912}}

|St. John's

bgcolor="#FFFF99"|{{sortname|Carl|Braun|dab=basketball}}^

| G

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Colgate

{{sortname|Fran|Curran}}

| G

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Notre Dame

{{sortname|Jack|Dwan}}

| F/G

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Loyola (IL)

{{sortname|Hoot|Gibson|dab=basketball}}

| F/C

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Creighton

{{sortname|Ralph|Hamilton}}

| G/F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Indiana

{{sortname|John|Hargis|dab=basketball}}

| G/F

|{{flagu|United States|1912}}

|Texas

{{sortname|Doug|Holcomb}}

| F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Wisconsin

{{sortname|Boag|Johnson}}

| G

|{{flagu|United States|1912}}

|Huntington

{{sortname|Walt|Kirk}}

| G

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Illinois

{{sortname|Bob|Knight|dab=basketball, born 1929}}

| G/F

|{{flagu|United States|1912}}

|Weaver HS (Hartford, Connecticut)

{{sortname|Ray|Kuka}}

| F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Montana State

{{sortname|Walt|Lautenbach}}

| G/F

|{{flagu|United States|1912}}

|Wisconsin

{{sortname|Matt|Mazza}}

| G/F

|{{flagu|United States|1912}}

|Michigan State

{{sortname|Dick|Mehen}}

| F/C

|{{flagu|United States|1912}}

|Tennessee

{{sortname|Ken|Menke}}

| G

|{{flagu|United States|1912}}

|Illinois

{{sortname|Fred|Paine}}

| F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Westminster (PA)

{{sortname|Les|Pugh}}

| F/C

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Ohio State

{{sortname|Ray|Ramsey}}

| G/F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Bradley

{{sortname|Lee|Robbins}}

| F

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Colorado

{{sortname|Gene|Rock}}

| G

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| USC

{{sortname|Jack|Rocker}}

| F/C

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| California

{{sortname|Jack|Smiley}}

| F/G

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Illinois

{{sortname|Jim|Springer}}

| C

| {{flagu|United States|1912}}

| Canterbury

{{sortname|Sid|Tanenbaum}}

| G/F

|{{flagu|United States|1912}}

|NYU

{{sortname|Mike|Todorovich}}

| F/C

|{{flagu|United States|1912}}

|Wyoming

{{sortname|Jack|Toomay}}

| F/C

|{{flagu|United States|1912}}

|Pacific

{{sortname|Floyd|Volker}}

| F/C

|{{flagu|United States|1912}}

|Wyoming

{{sortname|Danny|Wagner}}

| G

|{{flagu|United States|1912}}

|Texas

Notes

{{reflist|group=n}}

See also

References

;General

{{refbegin}}

  • {{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/BAA_1947.html|title=1947 BAA Draft|work=basketball-reference.com|access-date=September 11, 2009}}
  • {{cite web|url=http://www.apbr.org/4751drft.html|title=1947–1948 BAA Drafts, 1949–1951 NBA Drafts|publisher=The Association for Professional Basketball Research|access-date=September 11, 2009}}

{{refend}}

;Specific

{{reflist}}

External links

  • [http://www.nba.com/ NBA.com]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20090315112610/http://www.nba.com/history/draft_index.html NBA.com: NBA Draft History]

{{NBA Drafts}}

{{NBA Draft history by team}}

{{1947 BAA Draft}}

{{1947–48 BAA season by team}}

Draft

Category:Basketball Association of America draft

BAA draft

BAA draft

BAA draft

Category:Basketball in Detroit

Category:Events in Detroit