1949 BAA draft

The 1949 BAA draft was the third annual draft of the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The draft was held on April 21, 1949, before the 1949–50 season. In this draft, eleven BAA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players. The draft consisted of 8 rounds and a regional selection period, with 75 players selected. This was the final BAA Draft before the league merged with the National Basketball League to form the National Basketball Association (NBA) in August 1949.^[2][3] The 75 players selected matched the same number of players selected in the 1989 draft; both drafts have the fewest picks selected prior to 1989 (when the NBA draft was reduced to two rounds ever since).

1949 BAA draft
General information
Sport	Basketball
Date(s)	April 21, 1949[1]
Location	Commodore Hotel (New York City, NY)[1]
Overview
76 total selections in 11 rounds
League	BAA
Teams	11
Territorial pick(s)	Ed Macauley, St. Louis Bombers Vern Mikkelsen, Minneapolis Lakers
First selection	Howie Shannon, Providence Steamrollers
← 1948 1950 →

Draft selections and draftee career notes

Howie Shannon from Kansas State University was selected first overall by the Providence Steamrollers. However, Ed Macauley and Vern Mikkelsen were selected before the draft as St. Louis Bombers' and Minneapolis Lakers' territorial picks respectively. Four players from this draft, Vern Mikkelsen, Ed Macauley, Dick McGuire and Slater Martin have been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.^[4]

Key

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

Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality[n 1]	Team	College
T	–	Ed Macauley^	F/C	United States	St. Louis Bombers	Saint Louis
T	–	Vern Mikkelsen^	F/C	United States	Minneapolis Lakers	Hamline
1	1	Howie Shannon	G/F	United States	Providence Steamrollers	Kansas State
1	2	Alex Groza*	C	United States	Indianapolis Jets[5][6]	Kentucky
1	3	Bob Harris	F/C	United States	Fort Wayne Pistons	Oklahoma State
1	4	Tony Lavelli	F	United States	Boston Celtics	Yale
1	5	Vern Gardner	F/C	United States	Philadelphia Warriors	Utah
1	6	Ron Livingstone	C	United States	Baltimore Bullets	Wyoming
1	7	Dick McGuire^	G	United States	New York Knicks	St. John's
1	8	Wallace Jones	F	United States	Washington Capitols	Kentucky
1	9	Jack Kerris	F/C	United States	Chicago Stags	Loyola (IL)
1	10	Frank Saul	G/F	United States	Rochester Royals	Seton Hall
2	–	Leo Barnhorst+	G/F	United States	Indianapolis Jets	Notre Dame
2	–	Ralph Beard*	G	United States	Chicago Stags	Kentucky
2	–	Jack Coleman+	F/C	United States	Rochester Royals	Louisville
2	–	Harry Donovan	G	United States	New York Knicks	Muhlenberg
2	–	George Kaftan	F	United States	Boston Celtics	Holy Cross
2	–	Jim Nolan	C	United States	Philadelphia Warriors	Georgia Tech
2	–	John Oldham	G	United States	Fort Wayne Pistons	Western Kentucky
2	–	Johnny Orr	F	United States	St. Louis Bombers	Beloit
2	–	Red Owens	G	United States	Washington Capitols	Baylor

Other picks

The following list includes other draft picks who have appeared in at least one NBA game.^[7][8]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality[n 1]	Team	College
3	–	Nelson Bobb	G	United States	Philadelphia Warriors	Temple
3	–	Dwight Eddleman+	G/F	United States	Chicago Stags	Illinois
3	–	Paul Gordon	F	United States	Baltimore Bullets	Notre Dame
3	–	Ed Leede	G/F	United States	Providence Steamrollers	Dartmouth
3	–	Joe Mullaney	G	United States	Boston Celtics	Holy Cross
3	–	Mac Otten	F/C	United States	Indianapolis Jets	Bowling Green
3	–	Fred Schaus*	F	United States	Fort Wayne Pistons	West Virginia
3	–	Ernie Vandeweghe	G/F	United States  Canada	New York Knicks	Colgate
3	–	Slater Martin^	G	United States	Minneapolis Lakers	Texas
4	–	Bob Evans	G	United States	Indianapolis Jets	Butler
4	–	Jerry Nagel	G	United States	Fort Wayne Pistons	Loyola (IL)
4	–	Warren Perkins	G/F	United States	Providence Steamrollers	Tulane
5	–	Cliff Barker	G	United States	Washington Capitols	Kentucky
5	–	Ray Corley	G	United States	Providence Steamrollers	Georgetown
5	–	Earl Dodd	F	United States	St. Louis Bombers	Northeast Missouri
6	–	Don Boven	G/F	United States	Indianapolis Jets	Western Michigan
7	–	John Pritchard	C	United States	St. Louis Bombers	Drake
8	–	Duane Klueh	G	United States	Boston Celtics	Indiana State
8	–	Bob Royer	G	United States	Providence Steamrollers	Indiana State
–	–	Mal McMullen	C	United States	Baltimore Bullets	Xavier
–	–	Bob Harrison+	G	United States	Minneapolis Lakers	Michigan
–	–	Paul Walther+	G/F	United States	Minneapolis Lakers	Tennessee
–	–	Marv Schatzman	F	United States	St. Louis Bombers	Saint Louis

Undrafted players

These players were not selected in the 1949 draft but played at least one game in the NBA.

Player	Pos.	Nationality	School/club team
Edward Bartels	SG/SF	United States	NC State (Jr.)
Vince Boryla	SF/PF	United States	Denver (Sr.)
Joe Bradley	SG	United States	Oklahoma A&M (Sr.)
Bob Brown	SF	United States	Miami (Ohio) (Sr.)
Leroy Chollet	SG/SF	United States	Canisius (Sr.)
Joe Dolhon	PG	United States	NYU (Jr.)
George Feigenbaum	PG	United States	Long Island (So.)
Normie Glick	SF/PF	United States	Marymount (So.)
Al Guokas	SG/SF	United States	Saint Joseph's (So.)
Bob Hahn	C	United States	NC State (Sr.)
Bob Harrison	PG	United States	Michigan (Sr.)
Bill Herman	SG	United States	Mount Union (Sr.)
Howie Janotta	SF	United States	Seton Hall (Sr.)
Frank Kudelka	SG/SF	United States	Saint Mary's (California) (Jr.)
Mal McMullen	PF/C	United States	Xavier (Jr.)
Al Miksis	C	United States	Western Illinois (Sr.)
Dermie O'Connell	PG	United States	Holy Cross (So.)
Mike O'Neill	SG/SF	United States	California (Sr.)
Charlie Parsley	SG	United States	Western Kentucky (Sr.)
John Payak	SG	United States	Bowling Green (Sr.)
Jack Phelan	SG/SF	United States	DePaul (Sr.)
Marv Schatzman	SF/PF	United States	Saint Louis (So.)
Wayne See	SG	United States	Northern Arizona (Sr.)
Paul Walther	G	United States	Tennessee (Sr.)
Isaac Walthour	PG	United States	Benjamin Franklin (New York) (HS Sr.)
Bob Wood	PG	United States	Northern Illinois (Sr.)

See also

• List of first overall NBA draft picks
• NBA records

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 rules.

References

General

• "1949 BAA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on October 30, 2009. Retrieved September 22, 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.

Specific

1. Bradley, Robert D. (2013). The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810890695., pg. 10
2. "NBL, BAA merge, end pro net war". The Republic. UP. August 4, 1949. p. 11. Retrieved June 21, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Berger, Phil. "First Season". AmericanHeritage.com. American Heritage Publishing. Archived from the original on June 26, 2009. Retrieved August 15, 2009.
4. "Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Inductees". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
5. "3 'Tucky Stars among choices in BAA draft". The Journal Herald. United Press. March 22, 1949. p. 8. Retrieved June 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Jim O'Leary (August 10, 1949). "Basketball merger saved red face for Alex Groza". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. p. 17. Retrieved June 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "1949 BAA Draft".
8. "NBA Past Drafts - RealGM".

External links

• NBA.com
• NBA.com: NBA Draft History