1951 NBA draft
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.[1] The draft consisted of 12 rounds comprising 87 players selected.
1951 NBA draft | |
---|---|
General information | |
Sport | Basketball |
Date(s) | April 25, 1951 |
Location | New York City, New York |
Overview | |
87 total selections in 12 rounds | |
League | NBA |
First selection | Gene Melchiorre, Baltimore Bullets |
Draft selections and draftee career notes
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.[2] Myer Skoog from University of Minnesota was selected before the draft as Minneapolis Lakers' territorial pick.
Key
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
Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team | College |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
T | – | Myer Skoog | G | Minneapolis Lakers | Minnesota | |
1 | 1 | Gene Melchiorre# | G | Baltimore Bullets | Bradley | |
1 | 2 | Mel Hutchins+ | F/C | Tri-Cities Blackhawks | Brigham Young | |
1 | 3 | Marc Freiberger# | C | Indianapolis Olympians | Oklahoma | |
1 | 4 | Zeke Sinicola | G | Fort Wayne Pistons | Niagara | |
1 | 5 | John McConathy | F | Syracuse Nationals | Northwestern State | |
1 | 6 | Ed Smith | F | New York Knicks | Harvard | |
1 | 7 | Ernie Barrett | G/F | Boston Celtics | Kansas State | |
1 | 8 | Sam Ranzino | G | Rochester Royals | NC State | |
1 | 9 | Don Sunderlage+ | G | Philadelphia Warriors | Illinois | |
2 | 10 | Jack Stone# | G/F | Baltimore Bullets | Kansas State | |
2 | 11 | Bill Gossett# | F/C | Tri-Cities Blackhawks | Colorado A&M | |
2 | 12 | Scotty Steagall# | G | Indianapolis Olympians | Millikin | |
2 | 13 | Jack Kiley | G | Fort Wayne Pistons | Syracuse | |
2 | 14 | Don Savage | G/F | Syracuse Nationals | Le Moyne | |
2 | 15 | Roland Minson# | G | New York Knicks | Brigham Young | |
2 | 16 | Bill Garrett# | F | Boston Celtics | Indiana | |
2 | 17 | Ray Ragelis | F | Rochester Royals | Northwestern | |
2 | 18 | Mel Payton | G/F | Philadelphia Warriors | Tulane | |
2 | 19 | Lew Hitch | F/C | Minneapolis Lakers | Kansas State |
Other picks
The following list includes other draft picks who have appeared in at least one NBA game.[3][4]
Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team | College |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | 23 | Jake Fendley | F | Fort Wayne Pistons | Northwestern | |
3 | 24 | Bato Govedarica | G | Syracuse Nationals | DePaul | |
3 | 27 | Fred Diute | G | Rochester Royals | St. Bonaventure | |
4 | 31 | Jim Slaughter | C | Tri-Cities Blackhawks | South Carolina | |
4 | 32 | Bill Tosheff | G | Indianapolis Olympians | Indiana | |
4 | 37 | Elmer Behnke | C | Rochester Royals | Bradley | |
5 | 48 | Mike Kearns | G | Philadelphia Warriors | Princeton | |
6 | 51 | John Rennicke | G | Tri-Cities Blackhawks | Drake | |
6 | 55 | Al McGuire | G/F | New York Knicks | St. John's | |
6 | 56 | James Luisi | G | Boston Celtics | St. Francis (NY) | |
7 | 68 | George Dempsey | G | Philadelphia Warriors | King's (NY) | |
8 | 77 | James Phelan | G | Philadelphia Warriors | La Salle |
References
- General
- "1951 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on 9 October 2009. Retrieved September 23, 2009.
- "1947–1948 BAA Drafts, 1949–1951 NBA Drafts". The Association for Professional Basketball Research. Archived from the original on September 22, 2009. Retrieved September 11, 2009.
- "1951 NBA Draft". The Draft Review. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
- Specific
- "Hawks: Franchise History". NBA.com/Hawks. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on 2 December 2009. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
- Goldstein, Joe (November 19, 2003). "Explosion: 1951 scandals threaten college hoops". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
- https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1951.html
- http://basketball.realgm.com/nba/draft/past_drafts/1951