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| 1951 NBA draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Date(s) | April 25, 1951 |
| Location | Park Sheraton Hotel (New York City, New York)[1] |
| Overview | |
| 87 total selections in 12 rounds | |
| League | NBA |
| Teams | 10 |
| First selection | Gene Melchiorre, Baltimore Bullets |
The 1951 NBA draft was the fifth annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 25, 1951, before the 1951–52 season. In this draft, ten remaining NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players. In each round, the teams select in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season. The Tri-Cities Blackhawks participated in the draft, but relocated to Milwaukee and became the Milwaukee Hawks prior to the start of the season.[2] The draft consisted of 12 rounds comprising 87 players selected.
Draft selections and draftee career notes
[edit]Gene Melchiorre from Bradley University was selected first overall by the Baltimore Bullets. However, he never played in the NBA due to his involvement in a point shaving scandal while playing college basketball.[3] Melchiorre would be joined by fellow Bradley teammates Bill Mann (the 21st pick of the draft) and Aaron Preece (the 72nd pick of the draft) in terms of players selected in this year's draft to never play in the NBA due to their involvement in the aforementioned point shaving scandal (other individuals involved and named at the time either went undrafted at the time, were already selected in previous drafts before this year, or were already disqualified from entering the draft this year due to the discovery at hand). Whitey Skoog from University of Minnesota was selected before the draft as Minneapolis Lakers' territorial pick.
Key
[edit]| Pos. | G | F | C |
| Position | Guard | Forward | Center |
| + | 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
[edit]Other picks
[edit]The following list includes other draft picks who have appeared in at least one NBA game.[4][5]
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 23 | Jake Fendley | F |  United States | Fort Wayne Pistons | Northwestern |
| 3 | 24 | Bato Govedarica | G | United States | Syracuse Nationals | DePaul |
| 3 | 27 | Fred Diute | G | United States | Rochester Royals | St. Bonaventure |
| 4 | 31 | Jim Slaughter | C | United States | Tri-Cities Blackhawks | South Carolina |
| 4 | 32 | Bill Tosheff | G | United States | Indianapolis Olympians | Indiana |
| 4 | 37 | Elmer Behnke | C | United States | Rochester Royals | Bradley |
| 5 | 48 | Mike Kearns | G | United States | Philadelphia Warriors | Princeton |
| 6 | 51 | John Rennicke | G | United States | Tri-Cities Blackhawks | Drake |
| 6 | 55 | Al McGuire | G/F | United States | New York Knicks | St. John's |
| 6 | 56 | James Luisi | G | United States | Boston Celtics | St. Francis (NY) |
| 7 | 68 | George Dempsey | G | United States | Philadelphia Warriors | King's (NY) |
| 8 | 77 | James Phelan | G | United States | Philadelphia Warriors | La Salle |
Notable undrafted players
[edit]These players were not selected in the 1951 draft, but played at least one game in the NBA.
| Player | Pos. | Nationality | School/club team |
|---|---|---|---|
| John O'Boyle | G | United States | Colorado State |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- General
- "1951 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on October 9, 2009. Retrieved September 23, 2009.
- "1947–1948 BAA Drafts, 1949–1951 NBA Drafts". The Association for Professional Basketball Research. Archived from the original on July 4, 2010. Retrieved September 11, 2009.
- "1951 NBA Draft". The Draft Review. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
- Specific
- ^ Bradley, Robert D. (2013). The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810890695., pg. 20
- ^ "Hawks: Franchise History". NBA.com/Hawks. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on December 2, 2009. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
- ^ Goldstein, Joe (November 19, 2003). "Explosion: 1951 scandals threaten college hoops". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
- ^ "1951 NBA draft".
- ^ "NBA Past Drafts - RealGM".