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
SportBasketball
Date(s)April 25, 1951
LocationNew York City, New York
Overview
87 total selections in 12 rounds
LeagueNBA
First selectionGene 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.GFC
PositionGuardForwardCenter
+ 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  United States Minneapolis Lakers Minnesota
1 1 Gene Melchiorre# G  United States Baltimore Bullets Bradley
1 2 Mel Hutchins+ F/C  United States Tri-Cities Blackhawks Brigham Young
1 3 Marc Freiberger# C  United States Indianapolis Olympians Oklahoma
1 4 Zeke Sinicola G  United States Fort Wayne Pistons Niagara
1 5 John McConathy F  United States Syracuse Nationals Northwestern State
1 6 Ed Smith F  United States New York Knicks Harvard
1 7 Ernie Barrett G/F  United States Boston Celtics Kansas State
1 8 Sam Ranzino G  United States Rochester Royals NC State
1 9 Don Sunderlage+ G  United States Philadelphia Warriors Illinois
2 10 Jack Stone# G/F  United States Baltimore Bullets Kansas State
2 11 Bill Gossett# F/C  United States Tri-Cities Blackhawks Colorado A&M
2 12 Scotty Steagall# G  United States Indianapolis Olympians Millikin
2 13 Jack Kiley G  United States Fort Wayne Pistons Syracuse
2 14 Don Savage G/F  United States Syracuse Nationals Le Moyne
2 15 Roland Minson# G  United States New York Knicks Brigham Young
2 16 Bill Garrett# F  United States Boston Celtics Indiana
2 17 Ray Ragelis F  United States Rochester Royals Northwestern
2 18 Mel Payton G/F  United States Philadelphia Warriors Tulane
2 19 Lew Hitch F/C  United States 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  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

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

References
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
  1. "Hawks: Franchise History". NBA.com/Hawks. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on December 2, 2009. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
  2. Goldstein, Joe (November 19, 2003). "Explosion: 1951 scandals threaten college hoops". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
  3. "1951 NBA draft".
  4. "NBA Past Drafts - RealGM".
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