| 1947 BAA draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Date(s) | July 1, 1947 |
| Location | Detroit, Michigan |
| Overview | |
| 80 total selections in10 rounds | |
| League | BAA/NBA |
| First selection | Clifton McNeely, Pittsburgh Ironmen |
1948 → | |
The 1947 BAA draft was the 1st 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 a joint draft with the established 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 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. Both the Pittsburgh Ironmen and Toronto Huskies participated in this draft, but they folded before the season opened.
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 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.[5]
Wataru Misaka, selected by the New York Knicks,[6] 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.[7] Misaka was cut after playing only three games with the team.[8]
| 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 has never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game |
| 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 |
The following list includes other draft picks who have appeared in at least one BAA/NBA game.[9][10]
These players were not selected in the 1947 draft, but played at least one game in the 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 |
|
NBA draft history by team
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1947–48 BAA season by team
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| Western |
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