# 1947 BAA draft

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/1947_BAA_draft
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/1947_BAA_draft.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1947_BAA_draft
> Source revision: 1355533970
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

The **1947 BAA draft** was the first ever [draft](/source/NBA_draft) of the [Basketball Association of America](/source/Basketball_Association_of_America) (BAA), which later merged with the [National Basketball League](/source/National_Basketball_League_(United_States)) (NBL) to become the [National Basketball Association](/source/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](/source/NFL_draft) (which was first implemented back in [1936](/source/1936_NFL_draft)) back on January 1947 during league meetings held in [New York](/source/New_York_(state)), with each team being given [territorial pick](/source/NBA_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](/source/World_War_II) by assigning exclusive rights to the team selecting a player.[1] Before the BAA's draft began, the NBL had already signed eleven players that had already graduated from college, all of whom the NBL did not feel like they should be exposed to the BAA's draft system on display. The players in question included college stars [Jack Smiley](/source/Jack_Smiley) and [Ralph Hamilton](/source/Ralph_Hamilton) going to the [Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons](/source/Detroit_Pistons) [works team](/source/Works_team), [Harry Boykoff](/source/Harry_Boykoff) going to the [Toledo Jeeps](/source/Toledo_Jeeps), and [John Hargis](/source/John_Hargis_(basketball)), [Frank Brian](/source/Frank_Brian), and [Charlie Black](/source/Charles_B._Black) going to the [Anderson Duffey Packers](/source/Anderson_Packers) [works team](/source/Works_team). 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.[2]

The draft was held on June 2, 1947, months before the [1947–48 season](/source/1947%E2%80%9348_BAA_season) began. During this draft, the nine remaining BAA teams (both the [Cleveland Rebels](/source/Cleveland_Rebels) and [Detroit Falcons](/source/Detroit_Falcons_(basketball)) decided to decline their entries into the draft while still remaining as existing franchises at the time) along with the [Baltimore Bullets](/source/Baltimore_Bullets_(1944%E2%80%9354)), who joined the BAA from the [American Basketball League](/source/American_Basketball_League_(1925%E2%80%931955)) after a dispute they had during the ABL playoffs with that league, took turns selecting amateur U.S. [college basketball](/source/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](/source/1946%E2%80%9347_BAA_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](/source/Washington_Capitols). Both the [Pittsburgh Ironmen](/source/Pittsburgh_Ironmen) and [Toronto Huskies](/source/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

Interestingly, this draft would allow for BAA teams to not just draft players that previously played in other professional basketball leagues (such as the rivaling [National Basketball League](/source/National_Basketball_League_(United_States)), the [(original) American Basketball League](/source/American_Basketball_League_(1925%E2%80%931955)), and the short-lived [Pacific Coast Professional Basketball League](/source/Pacific_Coast_Professional_Basketball_League)), but also select players that previously played in the inaugural BAA season beforehand as well. This led to some interesting draft results that would be out of place in more modern-day drafts otherwise, such as the selections of [Hank Biasetti](/source/Hank_Biasetti) and [Irv Rothenberg](/source/Irv_Rothenberg) by the [Boston Celtics](/source/Boston_Celtics) and [Washington Capitols](/source/Washington_Capitols) at picks #13 and #56 despite them both previously playing in the BAA earlier on through the [Toronto Huskies](/source/Toronto_Huskies) and [Cleveland Rebels](/source/Cleveland_Rebels) respectively (with the former team being notable for still being a part of the BAA properly at the time), as well as notable age gaps between certain prospects selected in this draft (notably among players like [Chick Reiser](/source/Chick_Reiser), who had last attended college back in 1935 before being drafted by the [original Baltimore Bullets](/source/Baltimore_Bullets_(1944%E2%80%931954)) near the end of the draft).

The [first selection of the draft](/source/List_of_first_overall_NBA_draft_picks), [Clifton McNeely](/source/Clifton_McNeely) from [Texas Wesleyan University](/source/Texas_Wesleyan_University), did not play in the BAA. Instead, McNeely opted for a high school coaching career in Texas.[3] The fourth pick, [Walt Dropo](/source/Walt_Dropo), also did not play in the BAA and opted for a professional [baseball](/source/Baseball) career instead, eventually playing 13 seasons in the [Major League Baseball](/source/Major_League_Baseball) (MLB).[4][5] The 7th and 10th picks, [Jack Underman](/source/Jack_Underman) and [Larry Killick](/source/Larry_Killick), also never played in the BAA. Three players from this draft, [Harry Gallatin](/source/Harry_Gallatin), [Andy Phillip](/source/Andy_Phillip) and [Jim Pollard](/source/Jim_Pollard), have been inducted to the [Basketball Hall of Fame](/source/Basketball_Hall_of_Fame).[6]

[Wataru Misaka](/source/Wataru_Misaka), selected by the [New York Knicks](/source/New_York_Knicks),[7] 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](/source/Major_League_Baseball) [color line](/source/Baseball_color_line) had been broken by the [Brooklyn Dodgers](/source/Brooklyn_Dodgers)' [Jackie Robinson](/source/Jackie_Robinson).[8] Misaka was cut after playing only three games with the team.[9]

## Key

Pos. G F C Position Guard Forward Center

## Draft

Rnd. Pick Player Pos. Nationality[n 1] Team School / club team 1 1 Clifton McNeely# F United States Pittsburgh Ironmen Texas Wesleyan 1 2 Glen Selbo G/F United States Toronto Huskies Wisconsin 1 3 Bulbs Ehlers G/F United States Boston Celtics Purdue 1 4 Walt Dropo# – United States Providence Steamrollers Connecticut 1 5 Dick Holub C United States New York Knicks Long Island 1 6 Chink Crossin G United States Philadelphia Warriors Pennsylvania 1 7 Jack Underman# – United States St. Louis Bombers Ohio State 1 8 Paul Huston F United States Chicago Stags Ohio State 1 9 Dick O'Keefe G/F United States Washington Capitols Santa Clara 1 10 Larry Killick# – United States Baltimore Bullets Vermont

## Other picks

The following list includes other draft picks who have appeared in at least one BAA/NBA game.[10][11]

Rnd. Pick Player Pos. Nationality[n 1] Team School / club team 2 11 Fritz Nagy G/F United States Pittsburgh Ironmen Akron 2 12 Red Rocha+ F/C United States Toronto Huskies Oregon State 2 13 Hank Biasatti G Italy Canada Boston Celtics Toronto Huskies (Basketball Association of America) 2 14 Bob Hubbard F/C United States Providence Steamrollers Springfield 2 18 Ben Schadler F United States Chicago Stags Northwestern 2 19 Jack Tingle F United States Washington Capitols Kentucky 3 23 Gene Stump G/F United States Boston Celtics DePaul 3 28 Jimmy Darden G United States Chicago Stags Denver 4 33 Johnny Ezersky G/F United States Boston Celtics Brooklyn Gothams (American Basketball League) 4 38 Gene Vance G/F United States Chicago Stags Illinois 4 40 Harry Gallatin^ F/C United States Baltimore Bullets Northeast Missouri 5 42 Paul Hoffman~ G/F United States Toronto Huskies Purdue 5 43 Jack Hewson F/C United States Boston Celtics Philadelphia Sphas (American Basketball League) 5 45 Ron Livingstone C United States New York Knicks Wyoming 5 47 Andy Phillip^ G/F United States Chicago Stags Illinois 5 48 Matt Zunic G/F United States Washington Capitols George Washington 6 53 Andy Duncan F/C United States New York Knicks William & Mary 6 54 Paul Napolitano G/F United States St. Louis Bombers San Francisco 6 56 Irv Rothenberg C United States Washington Capitols Cleveland Rebels (Basketball Association of America) 7 61 Wataru Misaka G United States New York Knicks Utah 7 62 Jim Pollard^ F/C United States Chicago Stags Stanford 7 63 Saul Mariaschin G United States Washington Capitols Harvard 8 68 Don Smith G/F United States Chicago Stags Indianapolis Kautskys (National Basketball League) 8 69 Paul Cloyd G/F United States Washington Capitols Wisconsin 8 70 Elmer Gainer F/C United States Baltimore Bullets Anderson Duffey Packers (National Basketball League) 9 74 John Mandic F/C United States Washington Capitols Portland Indians (Pacific Coast Professional Basketball League) 9 75 Chick Reiser G/F United States Baltimore Bullets Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (National Basketball League)

## Notable undrafted players

Further information: [List of undrafted NBA players](/source/List_of_undrafted_NBA_players)

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

Player Pos. Nationality School/club team Don Barksdale+ F/C United States UCLA Charles B. Black F/C United States Kansas Jake Bornheimer F/C United States Muhlenberg Harry Boykoff C United States St. John's Carl Braun^ G United States Colgate Fran Curran G United States Notre Dame Jack Dwan F/G United States Loyola (IL) Hoot Gibson F/C United States Creighton Ralph Hamilton G/F United States Indiana John Hargis G/F United States Texas Doug Holcomb F United States Wisconsin Boag Johnson G United States Huntington Walt Kirk G United States Illinois Bob Knight G/F United States Weaver HS (Hartford, Connecticut) Ray Kuka F United States Montana State Walt Lautenbach G/F United States Wisconsin Matt Mazza G/F United States Michigan State Dick Mehen F/C United States Tennessee Ken Menke G United States Illinois Fred Paine F United States Westminster (PA) Les Pugh F/C United States Ohio State Ray Ramsey G/F United States Bradley Lee Robbins F United States Colorado Gene Rock G United States USC Jack Rocker F/C United States California Jack Smiley F/G United States Illinois Jim Springer C United States Canterbury Sid Tanenbaum G/F United States NYU Mike Todorovich F/C United States Wyoming Jack Toomay F/C United States Pacific Floyd Volker F/C United States Wyoming Danny Wagner G United States Texas

## Notes

1. 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](/source/FIBA) rules.

## See also

- [List of first overall NBA draft picks](/source/List_of_first_overall_NBA_draft_picks)
- [NBA records](/source/NBA_records)

## References

**General**

- ["1947 BAA Draft"](https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/BAA_1947.html). *basketball-reference.com*. Retrieved September 11, 2009.
- ["1947–1948 BAA Drafts, 1949–1951 NBA Drafts"](http://www.apbr.org/4751drft.html). The Association for Professional Basketball Research. Retrieved September 11, 2009.

**Specific**

1. Bradley, Robert D. (2013). *The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts*. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810890695., pg. 1

1. Bradley, Robert D. (2013). [*The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts*](https://books.google.com/books?id=m99DCaqGoQ8C&q=The%20Basketball%20Draft%20Fact%20Book&pg=PA1). Scarecrow Press. pp. 1–2. ISBN 9780810890695.

1. Cook, Bob (September 13, 2007). ["Oden's injury a cruel blow for cursed Blazers"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090221120642/http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/20763763/site/21683474/). *NBCSports.com*. NBC Universal. Archived from [the original](http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/20763763/site/21683474/) on February 21, 2009. Retrieved September 11, 2009.

1. Montville, Leigh (July 19, 1993). ["What Ever Happened To...: Walt Dropo"](https://web.archive.org/web/20121025084921/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1138469/index.htm). *[Sports Illustrated](/source/Sports_Illustrated)*. Time Inc. Archived from [the original](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1138469/index.htm) on October 25, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2009.

1. ["Walt Dropo Bio"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/dropowa01.shtml). *baseball-reference.com*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20091020131851/http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/dropowa01.shtml) 20 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 11, 2009.

1. ["Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Inductees"](https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/hof.html). *basketball-reference.com*. Retrieved October 28, 2009.

1. Wertheim, Jon (February 11, 2012). ["Decades before Lin's rise, Misaka made history for Asian-Americans"](https://www.si.com/more-sports/2012/02/11/jeremy-linwatarumisaka). *Sports Illustrated*. Retrieved December 16, 2019.

1. Goldstein, Richard (November 26, 2019). ["Wat Misaka, 95, First Nonwhite in Modern Pro Basketball, Dies"](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/21/sports/basketball/wat-misaka-dead.html). *The New York Times*. Retrieved November 26, 2019.

1. Vecsey, George (August 10, 2009). ["Pioneering Knick Returns to Garden"](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/sports/basketball/11vecsey.html). *The New York Times*. Retrieved November 26, 2019.

1. ["1947 BAA Draft"](https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/BAA_1947.html)

1. ["NBA Past Drafts - RealGM"](http://basketball.realgm.com/nba/draft/past_drafts/1947)

## External links

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

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [1947 BAA draft](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1947_BAA_draft) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1947_BAA_draft?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.