American Basketball Association draft
The American Basketball Association draft was held from 1967 to 1975. Generally speaking, the ABA's drafts were considered a lot looser in terms of structure for teams to make their player choices when compared to the rivaling NBA. So much so, in fact, that in 1973, the ABA would host four different drafts that essentially held the same type of purpose at various different points of the year, while in 1974, the ABA would not only host a draft for college-based players, but also a draft for NBA players to be taken by ABA teams as well. In addition to that, according to former Washington Caps and Virginia Squires head coach Al Bianchi, the ABA would host their drafts on the drop of a hat and if a team wanted someone even after their draft was officially over and done with, they'd put him on their draft list anyway, which would later influence the rivaling NBA draft system during the 1970s decade.[1] Due to the secretive nature of the league's early drafts alongside their looser structures, not much is known about the draft records of where certain players were selected in which round early on outside of who the #1 pick of each draft was.
First overall picks
[edit]Year | Team | Player | Position | College |
---|---|---|---|---|
1967 | Indiana Pacers | Jimmy Walker | Shooting Guard | Providence College Friars |
1968 | Houston Mavericks | Elvin Hayes | Power Forward/Center | University of Houston Cougars |
1969 | New York Nets | Lew Alcindor | Center | UCLA Bruins |
1970 | New York Nets | Bob Lanier | Center | St. Bonaventure University Bonnies |
1971 | Utah Stars[2] | Jim McDaniels | Power Forward/Center | Western Kentucky Hilltoppers |
1972 | Virginia Squires | Bob McAdoo | Center/Power Forward | North Carolina Tar Heels |
1973 | San Diego Conquistadors | Dwight Lamar[a 1] | Point Guard | University of Southwestern Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns |
1974 | Virginia Squires | Tom McMillen[a 2] | Power Forward/Center | University of Maryland Terrapins |
1975 | Denver Nuggets | Marvin Webster | Center | Morgan State University Bears |
Notes
- ^ This pick was the #1 pick for what was considered the 1973 ABA Senior Draft (the official version of the ABA draft that year), not the 1973 Special Circumstances Draft, the 1973 ABA Undergraduate Draft that was directly after the Senior Draft that officially connected to the aforementioned draft once that prior draft was done with, or even the 1973 Supplemental Draft that was done some time afterward that incidentally had more rounds by comparison to the other drafts that year.
- ^ This pick was the #1 pick for the regular 1974 ABA Draft, not the subsequent 1974 ABA Draft of NBA Players.
Drafts
[edit]1967 ABA draft
[edit]No known record of which player was taken in which round outside of Jimmy Walker as the #1 pick by the Indiana Pacers was kept throughout the ABA's inaugural draft history. The reason for this was related to this draft being held in secret at the end of the league's three day long meetings held in Oakland, California (home of one of the founding ABA teams) on April 2. (Following that period of time, the team currently known now as the Denver Nuggets went by the initial name of the Denver Larks at the time after previously ditching their original plans to play in Kansas City before later changing their team name to the Denver Rockets before the start of the season due to ownership changes; the team currently known as the Brooklyn Nets initially went by the name of the New Jersey Freighters at first before later becoming the New York Americans and then ultimately entered their augural season as the New Jersey Americans due to there being no suitable arenas in New York at the time for them; and the team that later became the Oakland Oaks to start out their ABA tenure originally started out as the Oakland Americans at the time before a dispute with the New Jersey later turned into a future New York franchise led to the Oakland franchise originally trying to change their team name to the Jacks before ultimately changing their name to the Oaks, which was kind of considered a homage to the previous incarnation of the team name held in the second version of the American Basketball League, but was more considered a homage to the Pacific Coast League baseball team of the same name instead.[3][4][5]) What is known, however, was that the Indiana Pacers won the ABA draft lottery and would selected the #1 pick in the process, with the second round being reversed in drafting order.[6] Likewise, the New Orleans Buccaneers would be the first team to complete a draft day trade in the ABA by making a deal with the Oakland Oaks, as well as select multiple multi-athlete players in Bob Seagren and Ron Widby that year.[7]
- Anaheim Amigos
- First five rounds (each round is not specified here):
- Darrell Hardy, University of Baylor (Sr.)
- Bob Krulish, University of the Pacific (Sr.)
- Bob Lewis, University of North Carolina (Sr.)
- Mike Lynn, UCLA (Jr.)
- Tom Workman, Seattle University (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Jim Connelly, University of Virginia (Sr.)
- Denny Holman, Southern Methodist University (Sr.)
- Edgar Lacy, UCLA (Jr.)
- Les Powell, Utah State University (Sr.)
- Malkin Strong, Seattle University (Sr.)
- Gary Williams, Oklahoma State University (Sr.)
- Mike Wittman, University of Miami (Florida) (Sr.)
- Dallas Chaparrals
- First five rounds:
- #1. Matt Aitch, Michigan State University (Sr.)
- #2. Jim Burns, Northwestern University (Sr.)
- #3. Gary Gray, Oklahoma City University (Sr.)
- #4. Pat Riley, University of Kentucky (Sr.)
- #5. Jamie Thompson, Wichita State University (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Paul Brateris, Tennessee Wesleyan College (Sr.)
- Jeff Fitch, East Texas State College (Sr.)
- Duane Heckman, Dickinson College (Sr.)
- Ted Manning, North Carolina A&T State University (Sr.)
- Gilbert McDowell, Tennessee Wesleyan College (Sr.)
- Jerry Southwood, Vanderbilt University (Sr.)
- Tom Storm, Montana State University (Sr.)
- Denver Larks/Rockets
- First five rounds:
- #1. Walt Frazier, Southern Illinois University (Sr.)
- #2. Nevil Shed, Texas Western College (Sr.)
- #3. Bob Rule, Colorado State University (Sr.)
- #4. Gary Keller, University of Florida (Sr.)
- #5. Byron Beck, University of Denver (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified for Denver):
- Rick Dean, University of Syracuse (Sr.)
- Vaughn Harper, University of Syracuse (So.)
- Neil Heskin, Georgetown University (Sr.)
- Dave Lattin, Texas Western College (Sr.)
- John Morrison, Canisius College (Sr.)
- Neil Roberts, Brigham Young University (Sr.)
- Bill Turner, University of Akron (Sr.)
- Houston Mavericks
- First five rounds (each round is not specified here):
- Bob Benfield, West Virginia University (Sr.)
- Tony Eatmon, Pan American College (Sr.)
- Bob Riedy, Duke University (Sr.)
- Frank Stronczek, American International College (Sr.)
- Keith Swagerty, University of the Pacific (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Don Carlos, Otterbein University (Sr.)
- Hal Hale, Utah State University (Sr.)
- Guy Manning, Prairie View A&M College of Texas (Sr.)
- Jim Monahan, University of Notre Dame (Sr.)
- Mike Nau, Oregon State University (Sr.)
- Jerry Pettway, Northwood Institute (Sr.)
- Dale Schlueter, Colorado State University (Sr.)
- Indiana Pacers
- First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
- #1. Jimmy Walker, Providence College (Sr.)
- #2. Bob Netolicky, Drake University (Sr.)
- Charles Beasley, Southern Methodist University (Sr.)
- Jim Dawson, University of Illinois (Sr.)
- Craig Dill, University of Michigan (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Frank Gaidjunes, Villanova University (Sr.)
- Jerry Jones, University of Iowa (Sr.)
- Ronald Kozlicki, Northwestern University (Sr.)
- Hubie Marshall, La Salle College (Sr.)
- Ed McKee, Rockhurst College (Sr.)
- Bill Russell, Indiana University (Sr.)
- Gene Washington, Michigan State University (Sr.)
- Kentucky Colonels
- First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
- #1. Louie Dampier, University of Kentucky (Sr.)
- Clem Haskins, Western Kentucky University (Sr.)
- Dwight Smith, Western Kentucky University (Sr.)
- Bob Verga, Duke University (Sr.)
- Willie Wolters, Boston College (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Earl Beechum, Midwestern University (Sr.)
- Mel Cox, Central Washington State College (Sr.)
- Ken Gibbs, Vanderbilt University (Sr.)
- Pres Judy, Georgia Institute of Technology (Sr.)
- Randolph Mahaffey, Clemson University (Sr.)
- Gwendell McSwain, Valdosta State College (Sr.)
- John Smith, Kent State University (Sr.)
- Minnesota Muskies
- First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
- #1. Mel Daniels, University of New Mexico (Sr.)
- Phil Jackson, University of North Dakota (Sr.)
- Bob Lloyd, Rutgers University (Sr.)
- Tim Powers, Creighton University (Sr.)
- Sam Smith, Kentucky Wesleyan College (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Al Clark, Eastern Kentucky University (Sr.)
- Gary Gregor, University of South Carolina (Jr.)
- Ervin Inniger, Indiana University (Sr.)
- Rich Jones, University of Illinois (Jr.)
- Lindberg Moody, South Carolina State College (Sr.)
- Errol Palmer, DePaul University (Sr.)
- Ron Perry, Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Sr.)
- New Jersey Freighters / New York/New Jersey Americans
- First five rounds (each round is not specified here):
- Sonny Dove, St. John's University (Sr.)
- Mal Graham, New York University (Sr.)
- Dick Pruett, Jacksonville University (Sr.)
- George Stone, Marshall University (Sr.)
- Bob Wolf, Marquette University (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified for this primarily New Jersey-based team):
- Tim Edwards, Amherst College (Sr.)
- Dan Hansard, College of St. Thomas (Sr.)
- Frank Hollendoner, Georgetown University (Sr.)
- Harry Laurie, St. Peter's College (So.)
- New Orleans Buccaneers
- First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
- #1. Jimmy Jones, Grambling College (Sr.)
- Robert Allen, Arkansas State College (Sr.)
- John Dickson, Arkansas State College (Sr.)
- Paul Long, Wake Forest University (Sr.)
- Ron Widby, University of Tennessee (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Al Andrews, Tulane University (Sr.)
- George Carter, St. Bonaventure University (Sr.)
- Carl Head, West Virginia University (Sr.)
- Allan Parris, University of Utah (Sr.)
- Jeff Ramsey, University of Florida (Sr.)
- Bob Seagren, University of Southern California (Sr.)
- Dexter Westbrook, Providence College (Sr.)
- Oakland Americans/Jacks/Oaks
- First five rounds (each round is not specified here):
- Wes Bialosuknia, University of Connecticut (Sr.)
- Gordy Harris, University of Washington (Sr.)
- Richie Moore, Hiram Scott College (Sr.)
- Al Salvadori, University of South Carolina (Sr.)
- Al Tucker, Oklahoma Baptist University (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified for Oakland):
- Art Allen, Bethune–Cookman College (Sr.)
- Nate Branch, University of Nebraska (Sr.)
- Mike Davis, Virginia Union University (Sr.)
- Dave Fox, University of the Pacific (Sr.)
- Ron Franz, University of Kansas (Sr.)
- Bill Morgan, University of New Mexico (Sr.)
- Mal Pradd, Dillard University (Sr.)
- Pittsburgh Pipers
- First five rounds:
- #1. Earl Monroe, Winston-Salem Teachers College (Sr.)
- #2. Cliff Anderson, St. Joseph's College (Pennsylvania) (Sr.)
- #3. Craig Raymond, Brigham Young University (Sr.)
- #4. Trooper Washington, Cheyney State College (Sr.)
- #5. Barry Liebowitz, Long Island University (Brooklyn) (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Frank Card, South Carolina State University (Sr.)
- Ron Coleman, University of Missouri (Sr.)
- Chris Kefalos, Temple University (Sr.)
- Mike Riordan, Providence College (Sr.)
- John Schroeder, Ohio University (Sr.)
- Steve Sullivan, Georgetown University (Sr.)
- Jim Sutherland, Clemson University (Sr.)
1968 ABA draft
[edit]No known record of which player was taken in which round outside of Elvin Hayes as the #1 pick by the Houston Mavericks was kept throughout the ABA's second ever draft. The reason why this would be the case was due to it being held in secret, with an evaluation draft being conducted on March 9 in Louisville, Kentucky (home of the Kentucky Colonels) that lasted only four rounds instead of five rounds like it did the previous year,[8] followed by two different drafts of similar nature occurring on April 27 & May 5 in Los Angeles and Minneapolis, Minnesota (homes to two out of four relocated ABA franchises entering their upcoming season, with the latter location also being the original headquarters of the ABA at that time) for rounds 6-10 and rounds 11-15 respectively.[9] During this period of time, the Anaheim Amigos would officially change their franchise's name into the Los Angeles Stars,[10] with the Stars keeping the original picks that they had under the Amigos name. Following the conclusion of this draft period, the New Jersey Americans would return to an original plan of theirs with playing in New York by becoming the New York Nets for the rest of their ABA tenure following a failed permanent home move to New Jersey in relation to a forced disqualification for a playoff qualifying match against the Kentucky Colonels (though ironically playing in the same arena that initially disqualified them playoff qualification last season on a more permanent basis (at first), but with new floor boards in place in order to avoid a repeat scenario like their last game of that inaugural season from occurring again),[4] while the Minnesota Muskies would move to Miami, Florida to become the Miami Floridians and the defending champion Pittsburgh Pipers would move to Minnesota to become the Minnesota Pipers.[11][12] This year's draft would also increase the number of overall rounds for the draft from 10 to 15 rounds, meaning an increase in selections occurred during this year as well. This year's draft events would also begin the ABA's plans to merge with the rivaling NBA in what would eventually become the NBA–ABA merger.[13]
- Anaheim Amigos / Los Angeles Stars
- First five rounds (each round is not specified here for the Anaheim Amigos unless stated otherwise):
- #1. Larry Miller, University of North Carolina (Sr.)
- #2. Mervin Jackson, University of Utah (Sr.)
- Ed Johnson, Tennessee State University (Sr.)
- George Stone, Marshall University (Sr.)
- Michael Warren, UCLA (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified for the Los Angeles Stars):
- Carl Fuller, Bethune–Cookman University (Sr.)
- Ed Leggett, Rocky Mountain College (Sr.)
- Lou Shepherd, Southwest Missouri State College (Sr.)
- Bob Warren, Vanderbilt University (Sr.)
- Eldridge Webb, University of Tulsa (Sr.)
- Rick Adelman, Loyola University of Los Angeles (Sr.)
- Brian Brunkhorst, Marquette University (Sr.)
- Ben Foster, Pasadena City College (Sr.)
- Lloyd Higgins, Pasadena City College (Sr.)
- Phil Horns, University of Texas at El Paso (Sr.)
- Mike LaRoche, California Polytechnic State College (Sr.)
- Cary Smith, California State College at Los Angeles (Sr.)
- Dallas Chaparrals
- First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
- #1. John Smith Jr., Southern Colorado State College (Sr.)
- Shaler Halimon, Utah State University (Sr.)
- Rich Jones, Memphis State University (Jr.)
- Bob Lewis, South Carolina State College (Sr.)
- Jo Jo White, University of Kansas (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
- #6. Wally Anderzunas, University of Creighton (Jr.)
- #7. Glen Combs, Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Sr.)
- Ron Boone, Idaho State University (Sr.)
- Charles "C.A." Core, Southeastern Louisiana College (Sr.)
- Roy Manning, Lane College (Sr.)
- Billy Arnold, University of Texas (Sr.)
- Gene Jones, University of Missouri (Sr.)
- Gene Littles, High Point College (Sr.)
- Mickey McCarty, Texas Christian University (Sr.)
- Alvin Pettit, Central Missouri State College (Sr.)
- Willie Worsley, University of Texas at El Paso (Sr.)
- Denver Rockets
- First five rounds:
- #1. Tom Boerwinkle, University of Tennessee (Sr.)
- #2. Walt Piatkowski, Bowling Green State University (Sr.)
- #3. Bill Hewitt, University of Southern California (Sr.)
- No fourth round pick this time around for Denver.
- #5. Butch Booker, Cheyney State College (Jr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Harry Hollines, University of Denver (Sr.)
- Charles Parks, Idaho State University (Sr.)
- Vernon Payne, Indiana University (Sr.)
- Willie Rogers, University of Oklahoma (Sr.)
- Glynn Saulters, Northeast Louisiana State College (Sr.)
- Ken Hall, Westminster College (Sr.)
- Melvin Jones, Albany State College (Sr.)
- Julius Keye, Alcorn A&M College (Sr.)
- Mickey Smith, Memphis State University (Sr.)
- Oscar Smith, Elizabeth City State College (Sr.)
- Houston Mavericks
- First five rounds:
- #1. Elvin Hayes, University of Houston (Sr.)
- #2. Don Chaney, University of Houston (Sr.)
- #3. Art Beatty, American University (Sr.)
- #4. John Ray Godfrey, Abilene Christian College (Sr.)
- #5. Aaron Sellers, Jackson State College (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Martin Baietti, Manhattan College (Sr.)
- Rich Dumas, Northeastern State College (Sr.)
- Calvin Martin, Texas Southern University (Sr.)
- Mike Nordholz, University of Alabama (Sr.)
- Dan Smith, Howard Payne College (Sr.)
- Sam Butler, Southern University (Sr.)
- Warren Chapman, Duke University (Sr.)
- Bill Gaines, East Texas State University (Sr.)
- Jim Jones, Beloit College (Sr.)
- Frank Standard, University of South Carolina (Sr.)
- Indiana Pacers
- First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
- #1. Don May, University of Dayton (Sr.)
- #2. Mike Lewis, Duke University (Sr.)
- Don Dee, St. Mary of the Plains College (Sr.)
- Bob Quick, Xavier University (Sr.)
- Phil Wagner, Georgia Institute of Technology (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Dave Benedict, Central Washington State College (Sr.)
- Rudy Bogad, St. John's University (Sr.)
- Jerry Newsom, Indiana State University (Sr.)
- Rich Niemann, St. Louis University (Sr.)
- Jack Thompson, University of South Carolina (Sr.)
- Greg Cisson, Rider College (Sr.)
- Bobby Hooper, University of Dayton (Sr.)
- Butch Joyner, Indiana University (Sr.)
- Tom Neimeier, University of Evansville (Sr.)
- Kentucky Colonels
- First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
- #1. Wes Unseld, University of Louisville (Sr.)
- #2. Wayne Chapman, Western Kentucky University (Sr.)
- Willie Davis, North Texas State University (Sr.)
- Al Dixon, Bowling Green State University (Sr.)
- Fred Foster, Miami University (Ohio) (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Joe Gallagher, Pembroke State College (Sr.)
- Joe Kennedy, North Texas State University (Sr.)
- Manny Leaks, Niagara University (Sr.)
- Gene Moore, St. Louis University (Sr.)
- Greg Smith, Western Kentucky University (Sr.)
- Booker Brown, Middle Tennessee State University (Sr.)
- Al Hairston, Bowling Green State University (Sr.)
- Thad Jaracz, University of Kentucky (Sr.)
- Reggie Lacefield, Western Michigan University (Sr.)
- Bob Zoretich, DePaul University (Sr.)
- Butch Kaufman, Western Kentucky University (Sr.)
- Kermit Meystedt, Southeast Missouri State College (Sr.)
- John Snipes, Elizabeth City State College (Sr.)
- Robert "Bo" Wyenandt, Vanderbilt University (Sr.)
- Minnesota Muskies
- First five rounds:
- #1. Don Sidle, University of Oklahoma (Sr.)
- #2. Dallas Thornton, Kentucky Wesleyan College (Sr.)
- #3. Ron Nelson, University of New Mexico (Sr.)
- #4. Tom Kondla, University of Minnesota (Sr.)
- #5. Dan Sparks, Weber State College (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Ken Barnett, University of Delaware (Sr.)
- Joe Franklin, University of Wisconsin (Sr.)
- Darryl Jones, St. Benedict's College (Sr.)
- Al Knott, Cedarville College (Sr.)
- Jerry Waugh, University of Northern Iowa (Sr.)
- Lyndall Conway, University of Albuquerque (Sr.)
- Jim Garza, Detroit Institute of Technology (Sr.)
- Willie Iverson, Central Michigan University (Sr.)
- Terry Porter, St. Cloud State University (Sr.)
- Jim Sterkin, University of Detroit (Sr.)
- New Jersey Americans
- First four rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
- #1. Joe Allen, Bradley University (Sr.)
- Dick Cunningham, Murray State University (Sr.)
- Rodney Knowles, Davidson College (Sr.)
- Don Smith, Iowa State University (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Steve Adelman, Boston College (Sr.)
- Eddie Biedenbach, North Carolina State University (Sr.)
- Ron Guziak, Duquesne University (Sr.)
- Pete O'Dea, St. Peter's College (Sr.)
- Bill Soens, University of Miami (Florida) (Sr.)
- Bill Butler, St. Bonaventure University (Sr.)
- John Chamberlain, C. W. Post College (Sr.)
- Tony Koski, Providence College (Sr.)
- Bill Langheld, Fordham University (Sr.)
- Art Stephenson, University of Rhode Island (Sr.)
- Harry Laurie, St. Peter's College (Sr.)
- New Orleans Buccaneers
- First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
- #1. Charlie Paulk, Northeastern State College (Sr.)
- Mike Butler, Memphis State University (Sr.)
- Rich Johnson, Grambling College (Sr.)
- Ron Williams, West Virginia University (Sr.)
- Mark LaMoreaux, Lenoir–Rhyne College (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Charles Alford, East Carolina University (Sr.)
- Ted Campbell, North Carolina A&T State University (Sr.)
- Lee Davis, North Carolina Central University (Sr.)
- Dave Williams, Mississippi State University (Sr.)
- Jasper Wilson, Southern University (Sr.)
- Oakland Oaks
- First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
- #1. Garfield Smith, Eastern Kentucky University (Sr.) [acquired via trade with New Orleans[14]]
- #2. Henry Logan, Western Carolina University (Sr.)
- Warren Armstrong, Wichita State University (Sr.)
- Jim Eakins, Brigham Young University (Sr.)
- Skip Harlicka, University of South Carolina (Sr.)
- Bonus pick #1 for Oakland: Bob Kauffman, Guilford College (Sr.)
- Bonus pick #2 for Oakland: Stuart Lantz, University of Nebraska (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Jim McKean, Washington State University (Sr.)
- Bud Ogden, Santa Clara University (Jr.)
- Richard "Rusty" Parker, University of Miami (Florida) (Sr.)
- Lloyd Peterson, Oregon State University (Sr.)
- John Q. Trapp, Nevada Southern University (Sr.)
- Russ Critchfield, University of California (Sr.)
- Hal Grant, Pepperdine College (Sr.)
- Art Harris, Stanford University (Sr.)
- Bryan Phillips, Valdosta State College (Sr.)
- Tony Sapit, Carroll College (Sr.)
- Pittsburgh Pipers
- First five rounds:
- #1. Bill Hosket Jr., Ohio State University (Sr.)
- #2. Nick Pino, Kansas State University (Sr.)
- #3. Sam Williams, University of Iowa (Sr.)
- #4. Dave Newmark, Columbia University (Sr.)
- #5. Larry Newbold, Long Island University (Brooklyn) (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Roger Bohnenstiel, University of Kansas (Sr.)
- Clarence Brookins, Temple University (Sr.)
- John Haarlow, Princeton University (Sr.)
- Keith Hochstein, College of the Holy Cross (Sr.)
- Jeff Ockel, University of Utah (Sr.)
- Willie Betts, Bradley University (Sr.)
- Bill Jones, Fairfield University (Sr.)
- Greg Morris, Cornell University (Sr.)
- Bob Redd, Marshall University (Sr.)
- Bill Tindall, University of Massachusetts (Sr.)
1969 ABA draft
[edit]No known record of which player was taken in which round outside of Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) as the #1 pick for his home area New York Nets and the Houston Mavericks (who would soon become the Carolina Cougars once the team officially entered the second day of the ABA draft[15]) selecting Neal Walk with the #2 overall pick under what was dubbed as "Operation Kingfish" at the time (similar to the opening results of the 1969 NBA draft) was kept throughout the ABA's third ever draft. The reason why that would be the case was because the ABA would host the first five rounds secretly on February 15 in Bloomington, Minnesota (the at the time home area of the Minnesota Pipers that was also nearby the ABA's headquarters at the time), with the following five rounds after that being completed on April 15 in Charlotte, North Carolina (around the same period of time the Houston Mavericks began their move to North Carolina to become the Carolina Cougars for their new home area). Additional rounds would be implemented later on, but a total of 10 official rounds with every team (with most teams utilizing additional rounds as well) had been completed that draft year, meaning this draft decreased the total amount of rounds from the previous draft they did. Following the repeated failures of persuading talented star players like Lew Alcindor to choose the ABA over the rivaling NBA (with miscommunication from the ABA commission to Alcindor on the final amount the Nets would spend for him being the last straw), George Mikan would effectively resign from his position as the commissioner of the ABA.[16] Also following the draft's conclusion, the Minnesota Pipers would return to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as the Pittsburgh Pipers once again and the new defending champion Oakland Oaks would move to Washington, D.C. to become the Washington Caps.[12][5] On a more positive note, the time after this draft would also be notable for the Denver Rockets acquiring sophomore power forward Spencer Haywood, a Hall of Famer in his own right from the University of Detroit that would ultimately cause a greater influence upon the NBA draft system (in exchange for the Rockets forfeiting their own first round pick the following draft year) due to the newly created hardship exception made by interim commissioner and Houston Mavericks turned Carolina Cougars owner James Carson Gardner and the subsequent Haywood v. National Basketball Association case that would come up years later in relation to Haywood's unique situation that came from him being signed up by the ABA first.[17]
- Dallas Chaparrals
- First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
- #1. Tom Hagan, Vanderbilt University (Sr.)
- #2. Willie Brown, Middle Tennessee State University (Sr.)
- Bob Christian, Grambling College (Sr.) [acquired via trade with Denver]
- A. W. Holt, Jackson State College (Sr.) [acquired via trade with New York]
- Cliff Shegogg, Colorado State University (Jr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Butch Beard, University of Louisville (Sr.)
- Jake Ford, Maryland State College (Jr.)
- Jud Roberts, Atlanta Baptist College (Sr.)
- Ron Sanford, University of New Mexico (Sr.)
- Willie Scott, Alabama State College/University (Sr.)
- Fred Carter, Mount St. Mary's College (Sr.)
- Denver Rockets
- First five rounds:
- #1. Bob Presley, University of California (Sr.)
- #2. Bob Portman, Creighton University (Sr.)
- #3. Isiah "Ike" King, Hiram Scott College (Sr.)
- #4. Greg Wittman, Western Carolina University (Sr.)
- #4. Jerry King, University of Louisville (Sr.) [acquired via trade with Dallas]
- #5. Bob Tallent, George Washington University (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds:
- #6. Elnardo Webster, St. Peter's College (Sr.)
- #7. Bill Justus, University of Tennessee (Sr.)
- #8. Larry Jeffries, Trinity University (Sr.)
- #9. Harry Hall, University of Wyoming (Sr.)
- #10. Jim Healey, Rockhurst College (Sr.)
- #11. Roy Hinton Jr., Central State University (Jr.)
- #12. Al Cueto, University of Tulsa (Sr.)
- Houston Mavericks / Carolina Cougars
- First five rounds (each round is not specified here for the Houston Mavericks unless stated otherwise):
- #1. Neal Walk, University of Florida (Sr.)
- #2. Steve Mix, Toledo University (Sr.)
- L. C. Bowen, Bradley University (Sr.)
- Steve Kuberski, Bradley University (Jr.)
- Mel Coleman, Stout State University (Sr.)
- Bonus Pick: Jesse Price, Millikin University (Sr.) [acquired via trade]
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified for the Carolina Cougars):
- Howie Dickenman, Central Connecticut State University (Sr.)
- Gene Ford, Western Michigan University (Sr.)
- Gene Littles, High Point College (Sr.)
- Jack Stenner, University of Missouri–St. Louis (Sr.)
- Justus Thigpen, Weber State College (Sr.)
- Phil Argento, University of Kentucky (Sr.)
- Rudy Bennett, New York Institute of Technology (Sr.)
- Indiana Pacers
- First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
- #1. Willie McCarter, Drake University (Sr.)
- #2. Dick Grubar, University of North Carolina (Sr.)
- Tony Masiello, Canisius College (Sr.)
- Bob Arnzen, University of Notre Dame (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
- #6. Bill DeHeer, Indiana University (Sr.)
- #7. Dave Golden, Duke University (Sr.)
- #8. Billy Keller, Purdue University (Sr.)
- Gerald McKee, Ohio University (Sr.)
- Ron Peret, Texas A&M University (Sr.)
- John Jamerson, Fairmount State College (Sr.)
- Jim Stephenson, University of Maine (Sr.)
- Kentucky Colonels
- First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
- #1. Dave Scholz, University of Illinois (Sr.)
- #2. Herm Gilliam, Purdue University (Sr.)
- Bob Dandridge, Norfolk Polytechnic College (Sr.)
- Mike Grosso, University of Louisville (Jr.)
- Gene Williams, Kansas State University (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Chris Ellis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Sr.)
- Dick Garrett, Southern Illinois University (Sr.)
- Willie Norwood, Alcorn A&M College (Sr.)
- Dan Sadlier, University of Dayton (Sr.)
- Bobby Washington, Eastern Kentucky University (Sr.)
- Doug Brittelle, Rutgers University (Sr.)
- Gary Major, Duquesne University (Sr.)
- Los Angeles Stars
- First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
- #1. Simmie Hill, West Texas State University (Sr.)
- #2. Bingo Smith, University of Tulsa (Sr.)
- #2. Ted Weirman, Washington State University (Sr.) [bonus pick acquired in trade from Denver via Dallas]
- Johnny Baum, Temple University (Sr.)
- Dennis Stewart, University of Michigan (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Mack Calvin, University of Southern California (Sr.)
- Mike Davis, Colorado State University (Sr.)
- Roger Moller, Westmar College (Sr.)
- Dan Obrovac, University of Dayton (Sr.)
- Lee Winfield, North Texas State University (Sr.)
- Vince Fritz, Oregon State University (Sr.)
- Floyd Kerr, Colorado State University (Sr.)
- Miami Floridians
- First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
- #1. Bill Bunting, University of North Carolina (Sr.)
- #1. Larry Cannon, La Salle College (Sr.) [bonus pick acquired via trade with Indiana back when the team was in Minnesota]
- Bob Greacen, Rutgers University (Sr.)
- Johnny Jones, Villanova University (Sr.)
- Wil Jones, Albany State College (Sr.)
- Jim Smith, Northern Illinois University (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Johnnie Allen,[18] Bethune–Cookman College (Sr.)
- John Faircloth, Biscayne College (Sr.)
- Luther Green, Long Island University (Brooklyn) (Sr.)
- Larry Lewis, Saint Francis College (Sr.)
- Lynn Shackelford, UCLA (Sr.)
- Ed Szczesny, La Salle College (Sr.)
- Minnesota Pipers
- First three rounds:
- #1. Luther Rackley, Xavier University (Sr.)
- #2. Bob Whitmore, University of Notre Dame (Sr.)
- #3. George Thompson, Marquette University (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Charles Bonaparte, Norfolk Polytechnic College (Sr.)
- Charlie Hentz, Arkansas AM&N College (Sr.)
- Wilbur Kirkland, Cheyney State College (Sr.)
- Lee Lafayette, Michigan State University (Sr.)
- Kari Liimo, Brigham Young University (Sr.)
- Mike Davis, Virginia Union University (Sr.)
- Bill English, Winston-Salem State University (Sr.)
- Richard Tyler, Cheyney State College (Sr.)
- New Orleans Buccaneers
- First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
- #1. Franklin "Rusty" Clark, University of North Carolina (Sr.)
- #2. Skeeter Swift, East Tennessee State University (Sr.)
- John Arthurs, Tulane University (Sr.)
- Dave Nash, University of Kansas (Sr.)
- Willie Taylor, LeMoyne–Owen College (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Sam Little, Delta State College (Sr.)
- Charley Powell, Loyola University (New Orleans) (Sr.)
- James Wyatt, Northwestern State College of Louisiana (Sr.)
- New York Nets
- First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
- #1. Lew Alcindor, UCLA (Sr.)
- #2. Terry Driscoll, Boston College (Sr.)
- Rick Roberson, University of Cincinnati (Sr.)
- Ed Siudut, College of the Holy Cross (Sr.)
- Chris Thomforde, Princeton University (Sr.)
- Bonus Pick: Norm Van Lier, Saint Francis College (Sr.) [acquired via trade]
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Billy Evans, Boston College (Sr.)
- Tom Haggerty, Brandeis University (Sr.)
- Rob Washington, University of Tulsa (Sr.)
- Jeff Claypool, Grove City College (Sr.)
- Marvin Lewis, Southampton College, Long Island University (Sr.)
- Oakland Oaks
- First five rounds (each round is not specified here unless stated otherwise):
- #1. Jack Gillespie, Montana State University (Sr.)
- #2. Ron Taylor, University of Southern California (Sr.)
- Lamar Green, Morehead State University (Sr.)
- Don Griffin, Stanford University (Sr.)
- Eddie Mast, Temple University (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Bill Bowes, Elon College (Sr.)
- Joe Cromer, Temple University (Sr.)
- Lloyd Kerr, Colorado State University (Sr.)
- Ken Spain, University of Houston (Sr.)
- George Tinsley, Kentucky Wesleyan College (Sr.)
- James Johnson, University of Wisconsin (Sr.)
- Ron Teixeria, College of the Holy Cross (Sr.)
1970 ABA draft
[edit]No official known record of which player was taken in which round outside of Bob Lanier as the #1 territorial-based pick of the New York Nets was kept throughout the ABA's fourth ever draft. However, there would at least be a known record for the first three rounds for each and every team.[19] Despite that point, the ABA would hold this draft's first eight rounds at its earliest date yet on January 22 in Indianapolis (home of the Indiana Pacers), while the second half of the draft (which would go from rounds 9-17 this year, though teams would only go up as far as 15 or 16 rounds for this year's draft) would be held on March 15 in their new headquarters at New York (also the home area of the New York Nets). This draft would see the ABA become more successful in persuading young talents to join the ABA instead of the rivaling NBA, as well as showcase the most rounds in an ABA draft yet. However, it would also showcase the league's still ever-growing signs of instability from within after the draft ended with teams moving around and/or changing names in order to become more regional with their fanbase with the Dallas Chaparrals renaming themselves to the Texas Chaparrals in an attempt for their franchise to be more regional for the entire state of Texas following the Houston Mavericks' previous move to North Carolina to become the Carolina Cougars,[20] the runner-up Los Angeles Stars moving to Utah for the rest of their tenure to become the Utah Stars,[10] the Miami Floridians being renamed to just "The Floridians" in a unique attempt to have the team represent all of Florida,[11] the New Orleans Buccaneers would briefly be renamed the Louisiana Buccaneers in order to represent all of Louisiana before newer ownership changed hands and led to them moving to Memphis, Tennessee in order to become the Memphis Pros,[21] the Pittsburgh Pipers briefly changing their team name to the Pittsburgh Pioneers before lawsuit threats by both Point Park College and a different "Name That Team" contestant via the winning essay entry supposedly going over the contest's 25 word limit forced them into creating the Pittsburgh Condors name that they'd use for the rest of their existence,[12] and the Washington Caps moving to the nearby state of Virginia to become the Virginia Squires due to the team hearing rumors of an NBA–ABA merger coming about,[5] which ultimately got delayed by six years due to the Oscar Robertson v. National Basketball Association antitrust lawsuit.[22]
- Carolina Cougars
- First five rounds:
- Round 1, Pick 1: Pete Maravich, Louisiana State University (Sr.)
- Round 2, Pick 4: Bob Lienhard, University of Georgia (Sr.)
- Round 3, Pick 3: Gary Freeman, Oregon State University (Sr.) [acquired via trade from Washington]
- #4. Greg McDivit, Ohio University (Sr.)
- #5. Vann Williford, North Carolina State University (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Paul Adams Jr., Central Washington State College (Sr.)
- Carl Johnson, Gustavus Adolphus College (Sr.)
- Earnie Killum, John B. Stetson University (Sr.)
- Wayne Sokolowski, Ashland College (Sr.)
- Don Adams, Northwestern University (Sr.)
- Narvis Anderson, Stephen F. Austin State University (Sr.)
- John Fultz, University of Rhode Island (Sr.)
- Chuck Lloyd, Yankton College (Sr.)
- Jim Signorile, New York University (Sr.)
- Dallas Chaparrals
- First five rounds:
- Round 1, Pick 2: Bobby Croft, University of Tennessee (Sr.)
- Round 2, Pick 8: Emmanuel Cannon,[23] Grambling College (Sr.)
- Round 3, Pick 6: John Johnson, University of Iowa (Sr.)
- #4. Nate Archibald, University of Texas at El Paso (Sr.)
- #5. Joe Hamilton, North Texas State University (Sr.)
- Bonus #5 pick at hand: Stan Love, University of Oregon (Jr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Michael Bernard, Kentucky State College (Sr.)
- Bill Cain, Iowa State University (Sr.)
- Randall Caussey, McMurry College (Sr.)
- Al Henry, University of Wisconsin (Sr.)
- Steve Patterson, UCLA (Jr.)
- Glenn Vidnovic,[24] University of Iowa (Sr.)
- Paul Brown, Arkansas Polytechnic College (Sr.)
- Ron Pitts, Wiley College (Sr.)
- Denver Rockets
- First five rounds:
- Forfeited official first round pick due to them signing Spencer Haywood last year.
- Round 2, Pick 6: John Vallely, UCLA (Sr.)
- Round 3, Pick 7: Greg Hyder, Eastern New Mexico University (Sr.)
- #4. Bob St. Pierre, Hanover College (Sr.)
- #5. Greg Daust, University of Missouri–St. Louis (So.)[25]
- Bonus #5 pick at hand: Dan Hester, Louisiana State University (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds:
- #6. John Marren, Manhattan College (Sr.)
- Bonus #6 pick at hand: Larry Mikan, University of Minnesota (Sr.)
- #7. Joe McBride, Augusta College (Sr.)
- #8. Ron Becker, University of New Mexico (Sr.)
- #9. Jim Penix, Bowling Green State University (Sr.)
- #10. Mike Price, University of Illinois (Sr.)
- #11. Ken Warzynski, DePaul University (Sr.)
- #12. Fred Taylor, Pan American College (Sr.)
- Indiana Pacers
- First five rounds:
- Round 1, Pick 3: Rick Mount, Purdue University (Sr.)
- Round 2, Pick 11: Dennis Awtrey, Santa Clara University (Sr.)
- Round 3, Pick 10: Joe Hamilton, North Texas State University (Sr.) [acquired via trade from Kentucky]
- #4. Vince Fritz, Oregon State University (Sr.)
- #5. Surry Oliver, Stephen F. Austin State University (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Don Curnutt, University of Miami (Florida) (Sr.)
- Rick Erickson, Washington State University (Sr.)
- Billy Jones, Louisiana College (Sr.)
- Jerry Kroll, Davidson College (Sr.)
- Bob Riley, Mount St. Mary's College (Sr.)
- Heyward Dotson, Columbia University (Sr.)
- Mickey Foster, University of Arizona (Sr.)
- Seabern Hill, Arizona State University (Sr.)
- Ted Hillary, Saint Joseph's College (Indiana) (Sr.)
- Jeff Sewell, Marquette University (Sr.)
- Kentucky Colonels
- First five rounds:
- Round 1, Pick 4: Dan Issel, University of Kentucky (Sr.)
- Round 2, Pick 10: Claude Virden, Murray State University (Sr.)
- Round 3, Pick 8: Mike Pratt, University of Kentucky (Sr.)
- #4. Pete Cross, University of San Francisco (Sr.)
- #5. Howard Wright, Austin Peay State University (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Joe Bergman, Creighton University (Jr.)
- Mike Casey, University of Kentucky (Jr.)
- Tom Rose, Northern Michigan University (Sr.)
- Charlie Wallace, Oklahoma City University (Sr.)
- Al Williams, Drake University (Sr.)
- Doug "Skip" Hess, University of Toledo (Jr.)[26]
- Perry Wallace, Vanderbilt University (Sr.)
- Lou West, Seattle University (Sr.)
- Willie Woods, Eastern Kentucky University (Sr.)
- Los Angeles Stars
- First five rounds:
- Round 1, Pick 5: Dave Cowens, Florida State University (Sr.)
- Round 2, Pick 5: Jim McMillian, Columbia University (Sr.)
- Round 3, Pick 5: Dave Sorenson, Ohio State University (Sr.) [acquired via trade from New Orleans]
- #4. Carl Ashley, University of Wyoming (Sr.)
- Bonus #4 pick at hand: Jimmy Collins, New Mexico State University (Sr.)
- #5. Fred Davis, Howard Payne College (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Stan Dodds, University of Wyoming (Sr.)
- Virgle Fredrick, Drury College (Sr.)
- Ralph Ogden, Santa Clara University (Sr.)
- Cisco Oliver, Elizabeth City State University (Sr.)
- Bill Stricker, University of the Pacific (Sr.)
- Kevin Wilson, Ashland College (Sr.)
- Bruce Chapman, UNLV (Sr.)
- Denis Clark, Springfield College (Jr.)[27]
- Ron Knight, California State College at Los Angeles (Sr.)
- Robert Moore, Central State University (Sr.)
- Lou Small, UNLV (Sr.)
- Miami Floridians / The Floridians
- First three rounds:
- Round 1, Pick 9: Rudy Tomjanovich, University of Michigan (Sr.) [acquired via trade from Los Angeles]
- Round 2, Pick 1: John Hummer, Princeton University (Sr.)
- Round 3, Pick 1: Sam Robinson, California State College at Long Beach (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Clarence Ellis, Albany State College (Sr.)
- Levi Fontaine, Maryland State College (Sr.)
- Walt Gilmore, Fort Valley State College (Sr.)
- John McKinney, Norfolk State College (Sr.)
- Fran O'Hanlon, Villanova University (Sr.)
- Dan Sager, Kentucky State College (Sr.)
- Gary Zeller, Drake University (Sr.)
- Rubin Daniels, Cheyney State College (Sr.)
- New Orleans Buccaneers
- First five rounds:
- Round 1, Pick 6: Sam Lacey, New Mexico State University (Sr.)
- Round 2, Pick 9: Wendell Ladner, University of Southern Mississippi (Sr.)
- Round 3, Pick 9: George E. Johnson, Stephen F. Austin State University (Sr.)
- #4. Gar Heard, University of Oklahoma (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Charles Bishop, Louisiana Polytechnic Institute (Sr.)
- Coby Dietrick, San Jose State College (Sr.)
- George T. Johnson, Dillard University (Sr.)
- Robert "Bob" Mabry, Rio Grande College (Sr.)
- Marv Winkler, University of Southwestern Louisiana (Sr.)
- Ron Coleman, University of Mississippi (Sr.)
- Frank Lorthridge, Pan American College (Jr.)
- Andrew Owens, University of Florida (Sr.)
- New York Nets
- First five rounds:
- Round 1, #1. Territorial Pick: Bob Lanier, St. Bonaventure University (Sr.)
- Round 2, Pick 3: Geoff Petrie, Princeton University (Sr.)
- Round 3, Pick 2: Jim Ard, University of Cincinnati (Sr.)
- #4. Doug Cook, Davidson College (Sr.)
- #5. Jim Hayes, Boston University (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Joe DePre, St. John's University (Sr.)
- Harvey Marlatt, Eastern Michigan University (Sr.)
- Rod McIntyre, Jacksonville University (Sr.)
- Carlton Poole, Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science (Sr.)
- Ollie Taylor, University of Houston (Sr.)
- Dale Kelley, Northwestern University (Sr.)
- Ken Macklin,[28] Florida State University (Sr.)
- Erwin Polnick, Stephen F. Austin State University (Sr.)
- Mike Switzer, University of Texas at El Paso (Sr.)
- Jerry Venable, Kansas State University (Sr.)
- Pittsburgh Pipers/Pioneers/Condors
- First five rounds:
- Round 1, Pick 7: Mike Maloy, Davidson College (Sr.)
- Round 2, Pick 2: Calvin Murphy, Niagara University (Sr.)
- Round 3, Pick 11: Rex Morgan, Jacksonville University (Sr.)
- #4. Vic Bartolome, Oregon State University (Sr.)
- Bonus #4 pick at hand: Don Ogletree, University of Cincinnati (Sr.)
- #5. George Janky, University of Dayton (Sr.)
- Bonus #5 pick at hand: Cornell Warner, Jackson State College (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified for Pittsburgh):
- Lou Herndon, Jackson State College (Sr.)
- Lavern Howard, Grambling College (Sr.)
- Bill Jankans, California State College at Long Beach (Sr.)
- Robert Kornegay, Hampton Institute (Sr.)
- Boyd Lynch, Eastern Kentucky University (Sr.)
- Willie Watson, Oklahoma City University (Sr.)
- Jim Wilson, Cheyney State College (Sr.)
- Bill Zopf, Duquesne University (Sr.)
- Washington Caps
- First five rounds:
- Round 1, Pick 8: Charlie Scott, University of North Carolina (Sr.)
- Round 2, Pick 7: Greg Howard, Brill Cagliari (Italy)
- Round 3, Pick 4: George Irvine, University of Washington (Sr.)
- #4. James Gilbert, Adams State College (Sr.)
- #5. Billy Paultz, St. John's University (Sr.)
- Bonus #5 pick at hand: Gary Freeman, Oregon State University (Sr.)
- Extra Rounds (each round is not specified):
- Tommy Carter, Paul Quinn College (Sr.)
- Tom Everette, Carson–Newman College (Sr.)
- Curtis Perry, Southwest Missouri State College (Sr.)
- Paul Ruffner, Brigham Young University (Sr.)
- Will Teague, Youngstown State University (Sr.)
- Charles Bloodworth, Northwestern State College of Louisiana (Sr.)
- Leon Edmonds, Portland State University (Sr.)[29]
- Andy Jennings, Alderson-Broaddus College (Sr.)
- George Jerman, Western New England College (Fr.)[30]
- Scott Warner, Brigham Young University (Sr.)
1971 ABA draft
[edit]This draft would be the first ABA draft to have a known record of who got selected where in the ABA beyond just the fact that Jim McDaniels was the #1 pick by the eventual champion Utah Stars from a trade involving the temporarily rebranded Texas Chaparrals later returning to their Dallas Chaparrals name (though they're now known as the San Antonio Spurs in more modern times) during this year following the draft,[20] according to "The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts". Not only that, but the ABA would also host the most rounds ever in one draft by this point in time with a grand total of twenty rounds officially being set this year. The first three rounds would be completed on January 22-23 at Greensboro, North Carolina (specifically, rounds one and two would be done on the 22nd alongside parts of round three, while round three was officially completed on the 23rd at the general home area of the Carolina Cougars), while the rest of the rounds starting from the fourth round onward would all be completed on March 15 in New York (which would be where the rest of the ABA's major drafts were held at going forward). The ABA would also host a "Special Circumstances" Draft later in the year on September 10 in Memphis, Tennessee as a response to the (at the time) recently implemented "NBA Hardship Draft" that the NBA was forced to utilize following the results of the Haywood v. National Basketball Association 1971 Supreme Court case, though only three players from that special draft would be selected there: Duquesne University's Mickey Davis for the Denver Rockets in the second round, the University of California's Phil Chenier for the Carolina Cougars in the second round, and North Carolina State University's Ed Leftwich for the New York Nets in the fourth round; no players were selected during the first or third rounds in question for that event (though technically speaking, Mickey Davis would be considered the #1 pick of the Special Circumstances Draft that year).[31] The ABA would later rule that three of the players that the Virginia Squires drafted in Tom Riker, Jim Chones, and Barry Parkhill were actually ineligible underclassmen due to the original conditions that the ABA had to uphold in order to allow the initially planned NBA–ABA merger to happen in the first place despite the Denver Rockets keeping their own first round selection (the second of three straight first round picks that they had acquired via trades) of Ralph Simpson at hand (though the Squires would later get Parkhill back onto their team eventually),[32] while the Indiana Pacers essentially pranked the rest of the league by selecting a nonexistent player named "Slick Pinkham" from DePauw University as the official last pick of the 1971 ABA draft; Slick Pinkham was a portmanteau of head coach Bobby "Slick" Leonard and team owner Dick Tinkham, who actually did attend DePauw University and played basketball for them there back when he was a student.[33] Outside of the Texas Chaparrals returning to their Dallas Chaparrals name after the regular ABA draft ended,[20] no changes involving ABA teams would occur after this draft year, which would make it the most stable draft year in the ABA yet. Also following the draft were the initial plans of the NBA–ABA merger that would have seen every ABA team join the NBA except for the Virginia Squires (the reason for their exclusion related to them being too close of proximity to the Baltimore Bullets, now Washington Wizards, which would have forced them to either move yet again in order to join the NBA or fold operations altogether) starting by May 1971 before the Oscar Robertson v. National Basketball Association antitrust lawsuit ruined that merger plan entirely.[22]
Round | Pick | Player | Pos. | Nationality | Team | School/Club team |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Jim McDaniels+ | PF/C | United States | Utah Stars (from Texas)[32] | Western Kentucky (Sr.) |
1 | 2 | Elmore Smith | C | United States | Carolina Cougars | Kentucky State (Sr.) |
1 | 3 | Howard Porter | PF/SF | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Villanova (Sr.) |
1 | 4 | Cliff Meely | PF | United States | Denver Rockets (from The Floridians)[32] | Colorado (Sr.) |
1 | 5 | Ralph Simpson^ | SG/SF | United States | Denver Rockets | Michigan State (Jr.) |
1 | 6 | Ken Durrett | PF | United States | Denver Rockets (from New York via Virginia)[32] | La Salle (Sr.) |
1 | 7 | Randy Denton | C | United States | Memphis Pros | Duke (Sr.) |
1 | 8 | Willie Sojourner | C/PF | United States | Virginia Squires (from Indiana via Kentucky)[32] | Weber State (Sr.) |
1 | 9 | Artis Gilmore^ | C | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Jacksonville (Sr.) |
1 | 10 | Stan Love | PF | United States | Texas Chaparrals (from Utah)[32] | Oregon (Sr.) |
1 | 11 | Dana Lewis# | C | United States | Virginia Squires | Tulsa (Sr.) |
2 | 12 | Sidney Wicks | PF | United States | Texas Chaparrals | UCLA (Sr.) |
2 | 13 | Levi Wyatt# | F | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Alcorn A&M College (Sr.) |
2 | 14 | Rich Yunkus | PF/C | United States | Carolina Cougars | Georgia Tech (Sr.) |
2 | 15 | Marv Roberts | PF/C | United States | Denver Rockets | Utah State (Sr.) |
2 | 16 | Willie Long | SF/PF | United States | The Floridians | New Mexico (Sr.) |
2 | 17 | Charlie Davis | PG | United States | New York Nets | Wake Forest (Sr.) |
2 | 18 | Bob Kissane# | F | United States | New York Nets (from Virginia)[32] | Holy Cross (Sr.) |
2 | 19 | Darnell Hillman | PF/C | United States | Indiana Pacers | San Jose State (Sr.) |
2 | 20 | Jake Ford# | SG | United States | Memphis Pros | Western Kentucky (Sr.) |
2 | 21 | Roger Brown+ | C | United States | Texas Chaparrals (from Utah)[32] | Kansas (Sr.) |
2 | 22 | Garry Nelson# | C | United States | Utah Stars | Duquesne (Sr.) |
3 | 23 | Gregg Northington# | C | United States | Carolina Cougars | Alabama State (Sr.) |
3 | 24 | Austin Carr | SG | United States | Virginia Squires | Notre Dame (Sr.) |
3 | 25 | John Mengelt | SG | United States | Indiana Pacers | Auburn (Sr.) |
3 | 26 | John Roche | PG | United States | Kentucky Colonels | South Carolina (Sr.) |
3 | 27 | Mike Newlin | SG | United States | Denver Rockets | Utah (Sr.) |
3 | 28 | Jimmy O'Brien# | G | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Boston College (Sr.) |
3 | 29 | Walt Szczerbiak | SF | United States | Texas Chaparrals | George Washington (Sr.) |
3 | 30 | Thorpe Weber# | F | United States | Memphis Pros | Vanderbilt (Sr.) |
3 | 31 | Ted McClain | PG/SG | United States | Carolina Cougars | Tennessee State (Sr.) |
3 | 32 | Rick Fisher | PF | United States | Utah Stars | Colorado State (Sr.) |
3 | 33 | Marvin Stewart# | G | United States | New York Nets | Nebraska (Sr.) |
4 | 34 | Gene Phillips | SG | United States | Texas Chaparrals | SMU (Sr.) |
4 | 35 | Al Smith | PG | United States | Denver Rockets | Bradley (Sr.) |
4 | 36 | Bill Smith# | C | United States | Pittsburgh Condors (from Carolina)[32] | Syracuse (Sr.) |
4 | 37 | Tom Owens | C/PF | United States | Memphis Pros (from The Floridians)[32] | South Carolina (Sr.) |
4 | 38 | Bubba Jones# | G | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Ashland (Sr.) |
4 | 39 | Amos Thomas# | SG/SF | United States | Memphis Pros | Southwestern State (Sr.) |
4 | 40 | Dick Gibbs | SF | United States | New York Nets | UTEP (Sr.) |
4 | 41 | Fred Brown | PG/SG | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Iowa (Sr.) |
4 | 42 | Dana Pagett | G | United States | Virginia Squires | USC (Sr.) |
4 | 43 | Jim Cleamons | PG/SG | United States | Indiana Pacers | Ohio State (Sr.) |
4 | 44 | Mo Layton | PG | United States | Utah Stars | USC (Sr.) |
5 | 45 | Collis Jones | SF/PF | United States | Texas Chaparrals | Notre Dame (Sr.) |
5 | 46 | Dave Robisch | C/PF | United States | Denver Rockets | Kansas (Sr.) |
5 | 47 | Luke Adams# | F | United States | Carolina Cougars | Lamar State (Sr.) |
5 | 48 | Rich Rinaldi | G | United States | The Floridians | Saint Peter's (Sr.) |
5 | 49 | Mike Jordan# | F | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Savannah State (Sr.) |
5 | 50 | Kennedy McIntosh | PF | United States | Memphis Pros | Eastern Michigan (Sr.) |
5 | 51 | Glen Summors# | F | United States | New York Nets | Gannon College (Jr.) |
5 | 52 | Mike Gale | PG/SG | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Elizabeth City State (Sr.) |
5 | 53 | Tom Riker | C/PF | United States | Virginia Squires | South Carolina (Jr.) |
5 | 54 | Clarence Glover | SF | United States | Indiana Pacers | Western Kentucky (Sr.) |
5 | 55 | Lee Dedmon# | F | United States | Utah Stars | North Carolina (Sr.) |
6 | 56 | George Trapp | PF/C | United States | Texas Chaparrals | Cal State Long Beach (Sr.) |
6 | 57 | William Graham# | F | United States | Denver Rockets | Kentucky State (Sr.) |
6 | 58 | Ron Rippetoe# | G | United States | Carolina Cougars | David Lipscomb College (Sr.) |
6 | 59 | Larry Holliday# | G | United States | The Floridians | Oregon (Sr.) |
6 | 60 | Barry Nelson | C | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Duquesne (Sr.) |
6 | 61 | Fred Hilton | SG | United States | Memphis Pros | Grambling (Sr.) |
6 | 62 | Matt Necaise# | F | United States | New York Nets | William Carey College (Sr.) |
6 | 63 | Jim Welch# | G | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Houston (Sr.) |
6 | 64 | Barry Parkhill | SG | United States | Virginia Squires | Virginia (So.) |
6 | 65 | Jeff Halliburton | SG | United States | Indiana Pacers | Drake (Sr.) |
6 | 66 | Bobby Fields | G | United States | Utah Stars | La Salle (Sr.) |
7 | 67 | Sterling Quant# | PF | The Bahamas[34] | Texas Chaparrals | Central State (Sr.) |
7 | 68 | Ken Gardner | SF | United States | Denver Rockets | Utah (Sr.) |
7 | 69 | Ed Kemp# | F | United States | Carolina Cougars | Adams State (Sr.) |
7 | 70 | Greg Starrick# | G | United States | The Floridians | Southern Illinois (Sr.) |
7 | 71 | John Sutter# | F | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Tulane (Sr.) |
7 | 72 | Loyd King | SG | United States | Memphis Pros | Virginia Tech (Sr.) |
7 | 73 | Odis Allison | SF | United States | New York Nets | UNLV (Sr.) |
7 | 74 | Larry Steele | SG/SF | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Kentucky (Sr.) |
7 | 75 | Clifford Ray | C/PF | United States | Virginia Squires | Oklahoma (Sr.) |
7 | 76 | Dean Meminger | PG | United States | Indiana Pacers | Marquette (Sr.) |
7 | 77 | Erwin Johnson# | F | United States | Utah Stars | Augusta (Sr.) |
8 | 78 | Curtis Rowe | PF | United States | Texas Chaparrals | UCLA (Sr.) |
8 | 79 | Tyrone Marioneaux# | C | United States | Denver Rockets | Loyola (New Orleans) (Sr.) |
8 | 80 | Kenneth Davis# | PG | United States | Carolina Cougars | Georgetown College (KY) (Sr.) |
8 | 81 | Tom Lee# | F | United States | The Floridians | Arizona (Sr.) |
8 | 82 | Charlie Yelverton | SG/SF | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Fordham (Sr.) |
8 | 83 | James Douglas# | G | United States | Memphis Pros | Memphis State (Sr.) |
8 | 84 | John Duncan# | F | United States | New York Nets | Kentucky Wesleyan (Sr.) |
8 | 85 | Clarence Sherrod# | G | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Wisconsin (Sr.) |
8 | 86 | Bill Gerry# | F | United States | Virginia Squires | Virginia (Sr.) |
8 | 87 | Vic Bartolome# | G | United States | Indiana Pacers | UCLA (Sr.) |
8 | 88 | Jim Day# | F | United States | Utah Stars | Morehead State (Sr.) |
9 | 89 | Jimmie Guymon# | G | United States | Texas Chaparrals | Eastern New Mexico (Sr.) |
9 | 90 | Mike Childress# | C | United States | Denver Rockets | Colorado State (Sr.) |
9 | 91 | Dave Wohl | PG | United States | Carolina Cougars | Pennsylvania (Sr.) |
9 | 92 | Jim Haderlein# | F | United States | The Floridians | Loyola Los Angeles (Sr.) |
9 | 93 | Vincent White# | F | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Savannah State (Sr.) |
9 | 94 | Henry Smith# | F | United States | Memphis Pros | Missouri (Sr.) |
9 | 95 | Jarrett Durham | F | United States | New York Nets | Duquesne (Sr.) |
9 | 96 | Mike O'Brien# | F | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Saint Leo (Sr.) |
9 | 97 | Jim Chones | C/PF | United States | Virginia Squires | Marquette (Jr.) |
9 | 98 | Tom Crosswhite# | F | United States | Indiana Pacers | Dayton (Sr.) |
9 | 99 | Willie Humes# | G | United States | Utah Stars | Idaho State (Sr.) |
10 | 100 | Gene Knoll# | G | United States | Texas Chaparrals | Texas Tech (Sr.) |
10 | 101 | George Faerber#[35] | F | United States | Denver Rockets | Purdue (Sr.) |
10 | 102 | Ken Mayfield | SG | United States | Carolina Cougars | Tuskegee (Sr.) |
10 | 103 | Doug Rex# | F | United States | The Floridians | UC Santa Barbara (Sr.) |
10 | 104 | James Fleming# | F | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Alcorn A&M College (Sr.) |
10 | 105 | Jim Gregory# | F | United States | Memphis Pros | East Carolina (Sr.) |
10 | 106 | Eric Hill# | G | United States | Pittsburgh Condors (from New York)[32] | Minnesota (Sr.) |
10 | 107 | Larry Saunders# | F | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Duke (Sr.) |
10 | 108 | Gil McGregor | PF | United States | Virginia Squires | Wake Forest (Sr.) |
10 | 109 | Larry Weatherford# | G | United States | Indiana Pacers | Purdue (Sr.) |
10 | 110 | Jake Jones | SG | United States | Utah Stars | Assumption College (Sr.) |
11 | 111 | Al Shumate#[36] | SF | United States | Texas Chaparrals | North Texas State (Sr.) |
11 | 112 | John Ribock# | F | United States | Denver Rockets | South Carolina (Sr.) |
11 | 113 | Bobby McKenney#[37] | C | United States | Carolina Cougars | Pepperdine (Sr.) |
11 | 114 | Gerald Lockett# | F | United States | The Floridians | Arkansas AM&N College (Sr.) |
11 | 115 | Rayford McCambry# | G | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Miles College (Sr.) |
11 | 116 | Danny Davis# | F | United States | Memphis Pros | Henderson State (Sr.) |
11 | 117 | Bill Warner# | G | United States | New York Nets | Arizona (Sr.) |
11 | 118 | Sid Catlett | F | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Notre Dame (Sr.) |
11 | 119 | Héctor Blondet# | F | Puerto Rico | Virginia Squires | Murray State (Sr.) |
11 | 120 | Jim England# | G | United States | Indiana Pacers | Tennessee (Sr.) |
11 | Utah Stars (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
12 | 121 | Willie Hart# | C | United States | Texas Chaparrals | Grambling (So.)[38] |
12 | 122 | Gary Brell# | F | United States | Denver Rockets | Marquette (Sr.) |
12 | 123 | Craig Love# | F | United States | Carolina Cougars | Ohio (Sr.) |
12 | 124 | Will Allen | F | United States | The Floridians | Miami (FL) (Sr.) |
12 | 125 | Isaiah Wilson | SG | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Baltimore (Sr.) |
12 | 126 | Gary Reist# | G | United States | Memphis Pros | Rice (Sr.) |
12 | 127 | Blaine Henry# | G | United States | New York Nets | Marshall (Sr.) |
12 | 128 | Jim Dinwiddie# | G | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Kentucky (Sr.) |
12 | 129 | Luis Grillo#[39] | PG | United States | Virginia Squires | Sunbury Mercuries (EBA)[40] |
12 | 130 | Jeff Smith# | F | United States | Indiana Pacers | New Mexico State (Jr.) |
12 | Utah Stars (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
13 | 131 | Goo Kennedy | PF/C | United States | Texas Chaparrals | TCU (Sr.) |
13 | 132 | Glen Richgels# | C | United States | Denver Rockets | Wisconsin (Sr.) |
13 | 133 | Bob Wenzel# | G | United States | Carolina Cougars | Rutgers (Sr.) |
13 | 134 | Jackie Ridgle | SG | United States | The Floridians | California (Sr.) |
13 | 135 | Ray Greene# | G | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | California State (Pennsylvania) (Sr.) |
13 | 136 | Edward Hoskins# | SF | United States | Memphis Pros | LeMoyne–Owen (Sr.) |
13 | 137 | Don Ward# | G | United States | New York Nets | Colgate (Sr.) |
13 | 138 | Pierre Russell | SG | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Kansas (Sr.) |
13 | Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
13 | 139 | Rick Katherman# | F | United States | Indiana Pacers | Duke (Sr.) |
13 | Utah Stars (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
14 | 140 | Bill Brickhouse# | G | United States | Texas Chaparrals | Montana State (Sr.) |
14 | 141 | Jerry Hyder# | G | United States | Denver Rockets | Eastern New Mexico (Sr.) |
14 | 142 | Ron Dorsey | SF | United States | Carolina Cougars | Tennessee State (Sr.) |
14 | 143 | Pembrook Burrows# | C | United States | The Floridians | Jacksonville (Sr.) |
14 | 144 | Gene Mumford# | G | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Scranton (Sr.) |
14 | 145 | Ken Riley# | F | United States | Memphis Pros | Middle Tennessee (Sr.) |
14 | 146 | Skip Young# | G | United States | New York Nets | Florida State (Sr.) |
14 | 147 | Jerome Perry# | G | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Western Kentucky (Sr.) |
14 | Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
14 | 148 | Clarence Smith# | F | United States | Indiana Pacers | Villanova (Sr.) |
14 | Utah Stars (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
15 | 149 | William Chatmon# | F | United States | Texas Chaparrals | Baylor (Sr.) |
15 | 150 | David Hall# | C/PF | United States | Denver Rockets | Kansas State (Jr.) |
15 | 151 | Hank Commodore# | G | United States | Carolina Cougars | Northwestern State (Sr.) |
15 | 152 | Ken May# | F | United States | The Floridians | Dayton (Sr.) |
15 | 153 | Lee McCullough# | F | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Indiana (Pennsylvania) (Sr.) |
15 | 154 | Rod Behrens# | PF | United States | Memphis Pros | Samford (Sr.)[41][42] |
15 | 155 | Phillip Sisk#[43] | G | United States | New York Nets | Georgia Southern (Sr.) |
15 | 156 | Willie Cherry# | F | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Denver (Sr.) |
15 | Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
15 | 157 | Rich Walker# | G | United States | Indiana Pacers | Bowling Green (Sr.) |
15 | Utah Stars (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
16 | 158 | Harry Taylor# | G/F | United States | Texas Chaparrals | Los Angeles Baptist (Sr.) |
16 | 159 | Richard Dixon# | G | United States | Denver Rockets | Loyola Los Angeles (Sr.) |
16 | 160 | Frank Lorthridge# | C/PF | United States | Carolina Cougars | Pan American (Sr.) |
16 | 161 | Wayman Terrell# | PF/C | United States | The Floridians | Oklahoma Baptist (Sr.) |
16 | 162 | Russell Golden# | F | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Jacksonville (Jr.) |
16 | 163 | Don Johnson# | F | United States | Memphis Pros | Tennessee (Sr.) |
16 | 164 | Brian Mahoney | SG | United States | New York Nets | Manhattan (Sr.) |
16 | Kentucky Colonels (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
16 | Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
16 | 165 | Tom Bush# | C | United States | Indiana Pacers | Drake (Sr.) |
16 | Utah Stars (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
17 | 166 | Dan McGhee# | PF/C | United States | Texas Chaparrals | Howard Payne (Sr.)[44] |
17 | 167 | David Walls Jr.#[45] | PF/C | United States | Denver Rockets | Jackson State (Sr.) |
17 | 168 | Dan Fife# | G | United States | Carolina Cougars | Michigan (Sr.) |
17 | 169 | Bill Drozdiak# | F | United States | The Floridians | Oregon (Sr.) |
17 | 170 | Harry James# | G | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Montclair State (Sr.)[46] |
17 | 171 | Haywood Hill# | SG/SF | United States | Memphis Pros | Oral Roberts (Sr.) |
17 | 172 | Ollie Shannon# | G | United States | New York Nets | Minnesota (Sr.) |
17 | Kentucky Colonels (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
17 | Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
17 | 173 | Jim Irving# | G | United States | Indiana Pacers | Saint Louis (Sr.) |
17 | Utah Stars (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
18 | Texas Chaparrals (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
18 | 174 | Paul Botts# | G | United States | Denver Rockets | Central Michigan (Sr.) |
18 | 175 | Cliff Harris# | F | United States | Carolina Cougars | Hardin–Simmons (Sr.) |
18 | 176 | Eddie Myers# | C | United States | The Floridians | Arizona (Sr.) |
18 | 177 | John Novey# | G | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Mount St. Mary's (Sr.) |
18 | 178 | Reggie Wood# | F | United States | Memphis Pros | College of Steubenville (Sr.) |
18 | 179 | Bob Doyle# | SG | United States | New York Nets | UTEP (Sr.) |
18 | Kentucky Colonels (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
18 | Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
18 | 180 | Bob Bissant# | G | United States | Indiana Pacers | Loyola (New Orleans) (Sr.) |
18 | Utah Stars (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
19 | Texas Chaparrals (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
19 | 181 | Ron Smith# | C | United States | Denver Rockets | Wichita State (Sr.) |
19 | 182 | Steve Bilsky# | PG | United States | Carolina Cougars | Pennsylvania (Sr.) |
19 | 183 | Steve Sims# | SG | United States | The Floridians | Pepperdine (Sr.) |
19 | Pittsburgh Condors (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
19 | 184 | Billy Barnes# | PF/C | United States | Memphis Pros | Southern State (Sr.)[47] |
19 | 185 | Calvin Oliver# | F | United States | New York Nets | Pan American (Sr.) |
19 | Kentucky Colonels (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
19 | Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
19 | 186 | Rudy Benjamin# | G | United States | Indiana Pacers | Michigan State (Sr.) |
19 | Utah Stars (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
20 | Texas Chaparrals (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
20 | 187 | Bobby Jones# | G | United States | Denver Rockets | Drake (Sr.) |
20 | Carolina Cougars (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
20 | 188 | Pat Biber# | F | United States | The Floridians | Tampa (Sr.)[48] |
20 | Pittsburgh Condors (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
20 | 189 | Allan Dalton#[49] | G | United States | Memphis Pros | Suffolk (Sr.) |
20 | 190 | Greg Cluess# | C/PF | United States | New York Nets | St. John's (Jr.) |
20 | Kentucky Colonels (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
20 | Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
20 | 191 | Slick Pinkham# | G | United States | Indiana Pacers | DePauw ("Sr.") |
20 | Utah Stars (Passed up on using this selection.) |
1972 ABA draft
[edit]Note, this year does not include six rounds of the July 13 dispersal draft involving two former ABA teams or an expansion draft for the San Diego Conquistadors (who took Mike Barrett from the Virginia Squires as their first pick in that draft) that took place after the dispersal draft to replace one of those defunct teams in question, meaning this draft would not have the San Diego team involved.[50][51] Once again, the ABA planned on getting a head start on the rivaling NBA by starting their first five rounds of the draft on March 2 (with ordering based on records from February 20, though with the Pittsburgh Condors and Memphis Pros alternating between themselves on who has the first selection and who has the second selection in each round), while the rest of the draft (which would also be twenty rounds long) would finish up over a month later on April 12 up in New York. However, this draft would also be the first draft to allow each team to select a college underclassman to join their team within the first five rounds of the draft, which drew some ire and criticisms at the time amongst not just the NCAA, but also numerous college coaches as well. This allowed teams to select some special talented players like future Hall of Famers Bob McAdoo and Bill Walton, as well as players like Doug Collins and freshman David Brent being drafted earlier than the NBA had anticipated them being available, though most of those guys either returned to college or went to the NBA anyway, Unfortunately, the recording of who got selected where during the first five rounds in particular is not well known for this particular year, meaning some information for the earlier rounds is more scattershot and a bit messier to record by comparison to the later rounds, weirdly enough, although we do at least know the general draft ordering for the teams that selected players this year.[52] As such, the listing of the first five rounds in particular might not be 100% accurate information by comparison to the rest of the draft here. In any case, following the conclusion of this draft year, both "The Floridians" and the Pittsburgh Condors would declare themselves as defunct operations going forward (thus leading to only the aforementioned San Diego Conquistadors replacing just one of those two teams going forward[53]), while the Memphis Pros decided to change their team name to the Memphis Pros entering the upcoming season.[21]
Round | Pick | Player | Pos. | Nationality | Team | School/Club team |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Bob McAdoo^ | C | United States | Virginia Squires (from Pittsburgh)[52] | North Carolina (Jr.) |
1 | Memphis Pros (forfeited #2 pick due to them acquiring Larry Cannon from the Denver Rockets[52]) | |||||
1 | 2 | Tom Riker | C/PF | United States | Carolina Cougars | South Carolina (Sr.) |
1 | 3 | Bud Stallworth | SG/SF | United States | Denver Rockets | Kansas (Sr.) |
1 | 4 | Dwight Davis | PF | United States | The Floridians | Houston (Sr.) |
1 | New York Nets (forfeited #5 pick due to them signing Jim Chones, a player previously drafted by the Virginia Squires last year that got invalidated due to draft stipulations at the time[52]) | |||||
1 | 5 | LaRue Martin | C | United States | Dallas Chaparrals | Loyola (Chicago) (Sr.) |
1 | 6 | Paul Stovall | SF | United States | Denver Rockets (from Indiana)[52] | Arizona State (Sr.) |
1 | Virginia Squires (forfeited what would have been the #7 pick due to them signing Julius Erving last year after the previous draft ended[52]) | |||||
1 | Utah Stars (forfeited what would have been the new #7 pick due to them signing Jimmy Jones from the Memphis Pros[52]) | |||||
1 | 7 | Corky Calhoun | SF | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Duke (Sr.) |
2 | 8 | David Brent# | C/PF | United States | Memphis Pros | Jacksonville (Fr.) |
2 | 9 | John Gianelli | C/PF | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Pacific (Sr.) |
2 | 10 | Dennis Wuycik | SF | United States | Carolina Cougars | North Carolina (Sr.) |
2 | 11 | Claude Terry | SG/SF | United States | Denver Rockets | Stanford (Sr.) |
2 | 12 | Mike Stewart# | C | United States | The Floridians | Santa Clara (Jr.) |
2 | 13 | Bill Chamberlain | SF | United States | New York Nets | North Carolina (Sr.) |
2 | 14 | Mike Ratliff | C | United States | Dallas Chaparrals | Wisconsin–Eau Claire (Sr.) |
2 | 15 | Chris Ford | SG | United States | Utah Stars | Villanova (Sr.) |
2 | 16 | Russ Lee | SG/SF | United States | Memphis Pros (acquired via trade of some sort (probably from Kentucky)) | Marshall (Sr.) |
3 | 17 | Chuck Terry | SF | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Long Beach State (Sr.) |
3 | 18 | Jim Price | PG | United States | Memphis Pros | Louisville (Sr.) |
3 | 19 | Brian Taylor* | PG | United States | New York Nets (acquired via trade of some sort (probably from Carolina)) | Princeton (Sr.) |
3 | 20 | Paul Westphal^ | PG/SG | United States | Denver Rockets | USC (Sr.) |
3 | 21 | Scott English | SF | United States | The Floridians | UTEP (Sr.) |
3 | 22 | Joby Wright | PF/C | United States | New York Nets (from The Floridians via New York)[52] | Indiana (Sr.) |
3 | 23 | Bob Morse# | SF/PF | United States | Dallas Chaparrals | Pennsylvania (Sr.) |
3 | 24 | Oscar Evans# | G | United States | Indiana Pacers | Butler (Sr.) |
3 | 25 | Bill Franklin# | F | United States | Virginia Squires | Auburn (Sr.) |
3 | 26 | Travis Grant | SF | United States | Utah Stars | Kentucky State (Sr.) |
4 | 27 | Rusty Clair# | C/PF | United States | Memphis Pros | Oregon (Sr.) |
4 | 28 | Bob Davis | SF | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Weber State (Sr.) |
4 | 29 | Fred Boyd | PG/SG | United States | Carolina Cougars | Oregon State (Sr.) |
4 | 30 | Doug Collins | SG | United States | Denver Rockets | Illinois State (Sr.) |
4 | 31 | Greg Starrick# | G | United States | The Floridians | Southern Illinois (Sr.) |
4 | 32 | Dwaine Dillard | SF | United States | New York Nets | Eastern Michigan (So.)[54] |
4 | 33 | Bill Walton^ | C | United States | Dallas Chaparrals | UCLA (So.) |
4 | 34 | Art White# | F | United States | New York Nets (acquired via trade of some sort) | Georgetown University (D.C.) (Sr.) |
4 | 35 | Chuck Jura# | C | United States | Utah Stars | Nebraska (Sr.) |
5 | 36 | Wil Robinson | SG | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | West Virginia (Sr.) |
5 | 37 | Steve Bracey | PG | United States | Carolina Cougars | Tulsa (Sr.) |
5 | 38 | Dave Bustion | PF | United States | Denver Rockets | Denver (Sr.) |
5 | 39 | Bob Lackey | SG | United States | New York Nets | Marquette (Sr.) |
5 | 40 | Steve Hawes | C/PF | United States | Dallas Chaparrals | Washington (Sr.) |
5 | 41 | Nate Stephens# | C | United States | Indiana Pacers | Long Beach State (Jr.) |
5 | 42 | Bob Nash | SF | United States | Utah Stars | Hawaii (Sr.) |
5 | 43 | Harold Fox | PG | United States | Pittsburgh Condors (acquired via trade of some sort (probably from Kentucky)) | Jacksonville (Sr.) |
6 | 44 | Bob Ford# | F | United States | Memphis Pros | Purdue (Sr.) |
6 | 45 | James Silas* | PG | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Stephen F. Austin (Sr.) |
6 | 46 | Steve Bracey | PG | United States | Carolina Cougars | Tulsa (Sr.) |
6 | 47 | Sam Sibert | SF | United States | Denver Rockets | Kentucky State (Sr.) |
6 | 48 | Charlie Thorpe# | C | United States | The Floridians | Belhaven College (Sr.) |
6 | 49 | Ron Harris# | F | United States | New York Nets | Wichita State (Sr.) |
6 | 50 | Jim Creighton | PF | United States | Dallas Chaparrals | Colorado (Sr.) |
6 | 51 | George Adams | F | United States | Indiana Pacers | Gardner–Webb College (Jr.) |
6 | 52 | Reggie Bird# | G | United States | Virginia Squires | Princeton (Sr.) |
6 | 53 | Tom Patterson | SF/PF | United States | Utah Stars | Ouachita Baptist (Jr.) |
6 | 54 | Matt Gantt# | F | United States | Kentucky Colonels | St. Bonaventure (Sr.) |
7 | 55 | Joe Mackey# | F | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | USC (Sr.) |
7 | 56 | Rowland Garrett | SF | United States | Memphis Pros | Florida State (Sr.) |
7 | 57 | Dan Holcomb# | C | United States | Carolina Cougars | Memphis State (Sr.) |
7 | 58 | Ron Riley | PF | United States | Denver Rockets | USC (Sr.) |
7 | 59 | Swen Nater* | C | Netherlands | The Floridians | UCLA (Jr.) |
7 | 60 | Hank Siemiontkowski# | SF/PF | United States | New York Nets | Villanova (Sr.) |
7 | 61 | Frank Schade | G | United States | Dallas Chaparrals | Wisconsin–Eau Claire (Sr.) |
7 | 62 | Richie Garner# | SG | United States | Indiana Pacers | Manhattan (Sr.) |
7 | 63 | Al Sanders | PF | United States | Virginia Squires | LSU (Sr.) |
7 | 64 | Eric McWilliams | SF | United States | Utah Stars | Long Beach State (Sr.) |
7 | 65 | Bill Kennedy# | G | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Arizona State (Sr.) |
8 | 66 | Sam Simmons# | G | United States | Memphis Pros | Bradley (Sr.) |
8 | 67 | Marshall Wingate# | G | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Niagara (Sr.) |
8 | 68 | Henry Bibby | PG | United States | Carolina Cougars | UCLA (Sr.) |
8 | 69 | Ted Martiniuk# | F | United States | Denver Rockets | Saint Peter's (Sr.) |
8 | 70 | Ron Thomas | PF | United States | The Floridians | Louisville (Sr.) |
8 | 71 | Walter Jones# | F | United States | New York Nets | LIU Brooklyn (Sr.) |
8 | 72 | Ansley Truitt | PF | United States | Dallas Chaparrals | California (Sr.) |
8 | 73 | Cavin Andersen# | G | United States | Indiana Pacers | Valley City State (Sr.) |
8 | 74 | Billy Shepherd# | PG | United States | Virginia Squires | Kentucky (Sr.) |
8 | 75 | Frank Russell | SG | United States | Utah Stars | Detroit (Sr.) |
8 | 76 | Terry Benton# | F | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Wichita State (Sr.) |
9 | 77 | Charles Edge | SF | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | LeMoyne–Owen (Jr.) |
9 | 78 | Steve Davidson# | F | United States | Memphis Pros | West Texas State (Sr.) |
9 | 79 | Jerry Crocker# | G | United States | Carolina Cougars | Guilford (Sr.) |
9 | 80 | Bernie Fryer | SG | United States | Denver Rockets | BYU (Sr.) |
9 | 81 | Ernie Fleming# | F | United States | The Floridians | Jacksonville (Sr.) |
9 | 82 | Ed Czernota# | F | United States | New York Nets | Sacred Heart (Sr.) |
9 | 83 | Wayne Grabiec# | G | United States | Dallas Chaparrals | Michigan (Sr.) |
9 | 84 | Wardell Dyson# | F | United States | Indiana Pacers | Shaw University (Sr.) |
9 | 85 | Mike Barr | G | United States | Virginia Squires | Duquesne (Sr.) |
9 | 86 | Mike Jackson | PF | United States | Utah Stars | Cal State Los Angeles (Sr.) |
9 | 87 | Ernest Pettis# | G | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Western Michigan (Sr.) |
10 | 88 | Jackie Young# | G | United States | Memphis Pros | Rocky Mountain (Sr.) |
10 | 89 | Bryan Adrian# | G | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Davidson (Sr.) |
10 | 90 | Mike Collins# | F | United States | Carolina Cougars | Seattle (Sr.) |
10 | 91 | Jerry Pender | SG | United States | Denver Rockets | Fresno State (Sr.) |
10 | 92 | Sam Cash | PF | United States | The Floridians | UC Riverside (Jr.) |
10 | 93 | Randy Noll# | F | United States | New York Nets | Marshall (Jr.) |
10 | 94 | Jerry Zielinski# | SG/SF | United States | Dallas Chaparrals | Northern Illinois (Sr.) |
10 | 95 | Jolly Spight# | G | United States | Indiana Pacers | Santa Clara (Sr.) |
10 | 96 | Rick Aydlett# | F | United States | Virginia Squires | South Carolina (Sr.) |
10 | 97 | Kevin Porter | PG | United States | Utah Stars | Saint Francis (Jr.) |
10 | 98 | Cleveland Hill# | F | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Nicholls State (Sr.) |
11 | 99 | Joe Gaines# | F | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Belmont (Sr.) |
11 | 100 | Steve Turner# | C | United States | Memphis Pros | Vanderbilt (Jr.) |
11 | 101 | Wilbert Loftin# | F | United States | Carolina Cougars | Southwest Louisiana (Sr.) |
11 | 102 | Gary Stewart# | F | United States | Denver Rockets | Canisius (Sr.) |
11 | 103 | Tracy Tripucka# | G | United States | The Floridians | Lafayette (Sr.) |
11 | 104 | Quinas Brower# | F | United States | New York Nets | Hofstra (Sr.) |
11 | 105 | Jeff Hickman# | SG | United States | Dallas Chaparrals | Houston (Sr.) |
11 | 106 | Billy Burton# | G | United States | Indiana Pacers | Eastern Kentucky (Sr.) |
11 | 107 | Kent Hollenbeck# | G | United States | Virginia Squires | Kentucky (Sr.) |
11 | 108 | Willie Hart# | C | United States | Utah Stars | Grambling (Jr.)[38] |
11 | 109 | Andrew Pettes# | G | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Oklahoma (Sr.) |
12 | 110 | Henry Bacon | SG | United States | Memphis Pros | Louisville (Sr.) |
12 | 111 | Chic Downing# | F | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Benedictine College (Sr.) |
12 | 112 | Charles Dudley | PG | United States | Carolina Cougars | Washington (Sr.) |
12 | 113 | Michael Reid# | G | United States | Denver Rockets | UC Riverside (So.) |
12 | 114 | Jerry Brucks# | C | United States | The Floridians | Wyoming (Sr.) |
12 | 115 | Bill Phillips# | C | United States | New York Nets | St. John's (Sr.) |
12 | 116 | Stan Key# | G | United States | Dallas Chaparrals | Kentucky (Sr.) |
12 | 117 | Wally Rice# | G | United States | Indiana Pacers | PMC Colleges (Sr.) |
12 | 118 | Milton Adams# | G | United States | Virginia Squires | Portland (Sr.) |
12 | 119 | Lloyd Neal | C/PF | United States | Utah Stars | Tennessee State (Sr.) |
12 | 120 | David Hall# | F | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Kansas State (Sr.) |
13 | 121 | Billy Pleas# | F | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Detroit (Sr.) |
13 | 122 | Ruppert Breedlove# | C | United States | Memphis Pros | Oglethorpe (Sr.) |
13 | 123 | Mike Sneed# | F | United States | Carolina Cougars | Fayetteville State (Sr.) |
13 | 124 | John Burks# | F | United States | Denver Rockets | San Francisco (Sr.) |
13 | 125 | Bobby Jack# | F | United States | The Floridians | Oklahoma (Sr.) |
13 | 126 | Kelly Utley# | G | United States | New York Nets | Shaw University (Sr.) |
13 | 127 | Donn Weise#[55] | C | United States | Dallas Chaparrals | Ripon College (Sr.) |
13 | 128 | Mel Sims#[56] | G | United States | Indiana Pacers | Cal State Los Angeles (Sr.) |
13 | 129 | Ralph Houston | F | United States | Virginia Squires | Houston (Sr.) |
13 | 130 | Simpson Degrate# | SG/SF | United States | Utah Stars | TCU (Sr.) |
13 | 131 | Jerry Clack# | G | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Oklahoma State (Sr.) |
14 | 132 | Sam McCarney# | F | United States | Memphis Pros | Oral Roberts (Sr.) |
14 | 133 | David Werthman# | SF | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | West Virginia (Sr.) |
14 | 134 | Steve Previs | PG | United States | Carolina Cougars | North Carolina (Sr.) |
14 | 135 | John Tschogl | SF | United States | Denver Rockets | UC Santa Barbara (Sr.) |
14 | 136 | Greg Flaker# | G | United States | The Floridians | Missouri (Sr.) |
14 | 137 | Paul Hoffman# | G | United States | New York Nets | St. Bonaventure (Sr.) |
14 | 138 | Rhea Taylor# | SF | United States | Dallas Chaparrals | Arizona State (Sr.) |
14 | 139 | Nate Williams# | SF | United States | Indiana Pacers | Utah State (Sr.) |
14 | 140 | Rudolph Peele# | G | United States | Virginia Squires | Norfolk State (Sr.) |
14 | 141 | Mose Adolph# | G | United States | Utah Stars | Cal State Los Angeles (Sr.) |
14 | 142 | Tom Parker# | F | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Kentucky (Sr.) |
15 | 143 | Henry Seawright# | G | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Manhattan (Sr.) |
15 | 144 | Gene Mack# | PG | United States | Memphis Pros | Iowa State (Sr.) |
15 | 145 | Kent Martens# | C | United States | Carolina Cougars | Abilene Christian (Sr.) |
15 | 146 | Leon Huff# | G | United States | Denver Rockets | Drake (Sr.) |
15 | 147 | Ray Golson# | G | United States | The Floridians | West Texas State (Sr.) |
15 | New York Nets (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
15 | 148 | Ron Williams# | G | United States | Dallas Chaparrals | Murray State (Sr.) |
15 | Indiana Pacers (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
15 | 149 | Scott McCandlish# | C | United States | Virginia Squires | Virginia (Sr.) |
15 | 150 | Harvey Catchings | PF/C | United States | Utah Stars | Hardin–Simmons (So.) |
15 | 151 | Jerry Dunn# | F | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Western Kentucky (Sr.) |
16 | 152 | Ken May# | F | United States | Memphis Pros | Dayton (Sr.) |
16 | 153 | Lee McCullough# | F | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Indiana (Pennsylvania) (Sr.) |
16 | 154 | Rod Behrens# | PF | United States | Carolina Cougars | Samford (Sr.) |
16 | 155 | Phillip Sisk# | G | United States | Denver Rockets | Georgia Southern (Sr.) |
16 | 156 | Willie Cherry# | F | United States | The Floridians | Denver (Sr.) |
16 | New York Nets (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
16 | 157 | Rich Walker# | G | United States | Dallas Chaparrals | Bowling Green (Sr.) |
16 | Indiana Pacers (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
16 | 158 | Harry Taylor# | G/F | United States | Virginia Squires | Los Angeles Baptist (Sr.) |
16 | 159 | Richard Dixon# | G | United States | Utah Stars | Loyola Los Angeles (Sr.) |
16 | 160 | Frank Lorthridge# | C/PF | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Pan American (Sr.) |
17 | 161 | Harry Anderson# | SG | United States | Pittsburgh Condors | Saint Peter's (Jr.) |
17 | 162 | Steve Schmidt# | G | United States | Memphis Pros | South Alabama (Sr.) |
17 | 163 | David Smith# | G | United States | Carolina Cougars | Western Carolina (Sr.) |
17 | 164 | Dave Hullman# | PF | United States | Denver Rockets | Arizona State (Sr.) |
17 | 165 | Arnie Berman# | F | United States | The Floridians | Brown (Sr.) |
17 | 166 | Ron Bradley# | G | United States | New York Nets | Eastern Nazarene (Jr.) |
17 | 167 | Al Vilcheck# | PF/C | United States | Dallas Chaparrals | Louisville (Sr.) |
17 | Indiana Pacers (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
17 | Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
17 | 168 | Henry Steele# | C | United States | Utah Stars | Northeast Louisiana (Sr.)[57] |
17 | Kentucky Colonels (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
18 | 169 | Terry Hankton# | F | United States | Memphis Pros | Arkansas Polytechnic College (Sr.) |
18 | 170 | Manuel Raga# | SG | Mexico | Pittsburgh Condors | Ignis Varese (Italy) |
18 | 171 | Curtis Pritchett# | F | United States | Carolina Cougars | St. Augustine's (Sr.) |
18 | 172 | Harold Little# | SG/SF | United States | Denver Rockets | New Mexico (Sr.) |
18 | 173 | Fred DeVaughn# | F | United States | The Floridians | Westmont (Jr.) |
18 | New York Nets (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
18 | Dallas Chaparrals (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
18 | Indiana Pacers (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
18 | Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
18 | 174 | Dwight Holiday# | SG | United States | Utah Stars | Hawaii (Sr.) |
18 | Kentucky Colonels (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
19 | Pittsburgh Condors (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
19 | Memphis Pros (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
19 | 175 | Paul Coder# | C | United States | Carolina Cougars | NC State (Sr.) |
19 | 176 | Andy Knowles# | PG | United States | Denver Rockets | Louisiana Tech (Sr.) |
19 | 177 | Bob Zender#[58] | F | United States | The Floridians | Kansas State (Sr.) |
19 | New York Nets (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
19 | Dallas Chaparrals (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
19 | Indiana Pacers (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
19 | Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
19 | 178 | George Price# | G | United States | Utah Stars | Colorado State (Sr.) |
19 | Kentucky Colonels (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
20 | Memphis Pros (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
20 | Pittsburgh Condors (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
20 | Carolina Cougars (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
20 | 179 | Al Davis# | F | United States | Denver Rockets | Hawaii (Sr.) |
20 | The Floridians (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
20 | New York Nets (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
20 | Dallas Chaparrals (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
20 | Indiana Pacers (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
20 | Virginia Squires (Passed up on using this selection.) | |||||
20 | 180 | George Bryant# | PG | United States | Utah Stars | Eastern Kentucky (Sr.) |
20 | Kentucky Colonels (Passed up on using this selection.) |
1972 ABA dispersal draft
[edit]On July 13, 1972, two of the ABA's first inaugural teams in "The Floridians" and the Pittsburgh Condors would have their players be dispersed in the first dispersal draft in the ABA's history. This dispersal draft would involve all of the original ABA teams at the time, but it would not include the San Diego Conquistadors expansion team since their creation was done after the dispersal draft happened. There would be six total rounds of draft picks from this dispersal draft that the nine ABA teams left over at the time would utilize from taking either "The Floridians" or Pittsburgh Condors players available.[59] Any players that weren't selected after this draft concluded would be placed on waivers and enter free agency afterward.[60] The following teams would select these players from either "The Floridians" or the Pittsburgh Condors.
- Round 1, Pick 3: Mike Lewis (Pittsburgh Condors)
- Round 1, Pick 6: Mack Calvin (The Floridians)
- Round 2, Pick 3: Mike Stewart (The Floridians)
- Round 3, Pick 3: Mike Grosso (Pittsburgh Condors)
- Round 4, Pick 2: George Starrick (The Floridians)
- Round 1, Pick 4: John Brisker (Pittsburgh Condors)
- Round 1, Pick 5: Skeeter Swift (Pittsburgh Condors)
- Round 2, Pick 4: John Gianelli (Pittsburgh Condors)
- Round 3, Pick 4: Jerry Brucks (The Floridians)
- Round 4, Pick 3: Bobby Jack (The Floridians)
- Denver Rockets
- Denver would only select players that were on "The Floridians" at the time of this dispersal draft.
- Round 1, Pick 2: Warren Jabali
- Round 1, Pick 7: Willie Long
- Round 2, Pick 2: Scott English
- Round 3, Pick 2: Al Tucker
- Round 1, Pick 13: Dwight Davis (The Floridians)
- Round 2, Pick 8: Dwight Jones (The Floridians)
- Round 3, Pick 9: Tracy Tripucka (The Floridians)
- Round 4, Pick 7: Brian Adrian (Pittsburgh Condors)
- Round 1, Pick 11: Walt Szczerbiak (Pittsburgh Condors)
- Round 2, Pick 7: Ernie Fleming (The Floridians)
- Round 3, Pick 7: Lonnie Wright (The Floridians)
- Round 4, Pick 6: Gregg Flaker (The Floridians)
- Round 1, Pick 1: George Thompson (Pittsburgh Condors)
- Round 1, Pick 8: Ron Franz (The Floridians)
- Round 2, Pick 1: Dave Lattin (Pittsburgh Condors)
- Round 3, Pick 1: Sam Cash (The Floridians)
- Round 4, Pick 1: Ron Thomas (The Floridians)
- Round 5, Pick 1: Charles Edge (Pittsburgh Condors)
- Round 6, Pick 1: Ray Golson (The Floridians)
- Round 1, Pick 12: Chuck Terry (Pittsburgh Condors)
- Round 3, Pick 8: George Tinsley (The Floridians)
- Round 1, Pick 10: Larry Jones (The Floridians)
- Round 2, Pick 6: Chuck Downing (Pittsburgh Condors)
- Round 3, Pick 6: Wil Robinson (Pittsburgh Condors)
- Round 4, Pick 5: Henry Seawright (Pittsburgh Condors)
- Round 5, Pick 3: Bill Pleas (Pittsburgh Condors)
- Round 1, Pick 9: Swen Nater (The Floridians)
- Round 2, Pick 5: Joe Mackey (Pittsburgh Condors)
- Round 3, Pick 5: Craig Raymond (The Floridians)
- Round 4, Pick 4: Jim Ligon (Pittsburgh Condors)
- Round 5, Pick 2: Greg Lowery (The Floridians)
- Round 6, Pick 2: Al Davis (The Floridians)
1972 ABA expansion draft
[edit]Following the dispersal draft of "The Floridians" and Pittsburgh Condors, the ABA would host their first and only expansion draft in league history with the San Diego Conquistadors taking on one of the replacement spots for either "The Floridians" or the Pittsburgh Condors. The expansion draft for the San Diego Conquistadors would take place on August 10, 1972, almost a month after the dispersal draft had concluded, with the Conquistadors being allowed to have two selections of players in essentially one total round (but really two rounds[51]) from the nine remaining ABA teams at hand. However, the Indiana Pacers would later negotiate a deal with San Diego to only allow them to acquire the negating draft rights to Dwight Jones instead of two players on their end. In any case, the following players would be selected by the San Diego Conquistadors for the franchise's expansion draft.
- San Diego Conquistadors
- Expansion draft roster:
- Round 1: Stew Johnson, Carolina Cougars
- Round 1: George E. Johnson, Dallas Chaparrals
- Round 1: Art Becker, Denver Rockets
- Round 1: George Peeples, Indiana Pacers
- Round 1: Les Hunter, Kentucky Colonels
- Round 1: Don Sidle, Memphis Pros
- Round 1: Ollie Taylor, New York Nets
- Round 1: Red Robbins, Utah Stars
- Round 1: Mike Barrett, Virginia Squires
- Round 2: Larry Miller, Carolina Cougars
- Round 2: Simmie Hill, Dallas Chaparrals
- Round 2: Chuck Williams, Denver Rockets
- Round 2: Draft rights to Dwight Jones, Indiana Pacers
- Round 2: Lonnie Wright, Kentucky Colonels
- Round 2: Charlie Williams, Memphis Pros
- Round 2: Gene Moore, New York Nets
- Round 2: Mike Butler, Utah Stars
- Round 2: Craig Raymond, Virginia Squires
1973 ABA draft
[edit]For this year's draft, the ABA would hold a special circumstances draft lasting for two rounds for the ten teams in the league on January 15, a senior draft lasting for ten rounds on April 25 (one day after the 1973 NBA draft began (despite the NBA's draft initially being held on April 9 that year), thus technically marking the first time an NBA draft was held before an ABA draft), an undergraduate draft also lasting for only two rounds that was also on April 25, and a supplemental draft on May 18 that lasted for a total of fifteen rounds (though with only 72 total picks for that draft by eight of the ten ABA teams involved), all of which was held entirely within New York.[61][51] During the period of time between the special circumstances draft and the senior and undergraduate drafts occurred, the Dallas Chaparrals would be bought out and move to San Antonio, Texas to initially become the San Antonio Gunslingers before becoming the San Antonio Spurs franchise that's well known to this day.[20] However, while the ABA would try and draft players that would be considered as those that fit the "Hardship Exemption" in the NBA or qualify under the "Special Circumstances" notion for the ABA before the NBA could do so once again (sometimes succeeding in the process), the rest of the ABA's drafts afterward would all take place after the NBA completed their one singular draft, which would technically make it the first time the ABA draft was finished after the NBA finished their drafting period. As such, there would technically be four correct names for the first pick of the ABA draft: Mike Bantom from St. Joseph's College in Pennsylvania by the Denver Rockets (now known as the modern-day version of the Denver Nuggets) in the special circumstances draft, Bo Lamar from the University of Southwestern Louisiana by the San Diego Conquistadors for the senior draft, Bill Walton from UCLA by the San Diego Conquistadors as well for the undergraduate draft (officially considered to be picks #108-127 for the April 25 draft day), and Larry Moore from the University of Texas at Arlington by the San Diego Conquistadors for the supplemental draft (the only ABA player to be considered at #1 pick to not play basketball professionally[62]) after the initial big draft day was completed. Not only that, if one were to combine the total rounds from all four of those drafts into one whole draft properly, this year's draft would have officially lasted for a massive 29 total rounds with the most number of players drafted for a grand total of 212 players selected for officially recorded data. However, to simplify the process a bit in this case, this year's draft coverage will have the four drafts separated as they originally were presented at the time. Outside of the Dallas Chaparrals moving to San Antonio in order to essentially become the modern-day San Antonio Spurs that currently exist in the NBA to this day following the end of the regular season months after the special circumstances draft ended, no other team movement changes occurred following the conclusions of the rest of these draft events, thus tying 1971 as the most stable draft year period for the ABA's teams due to no one outside of the Chaparrals franchise moving or changing team names once again.
1973 ABA special circumstances draft
[edit]This draft would technically be considered the last draft event that the Dallas Chaparrals would participate in under that name. Following the end of the 1972–73 ABA season, the Chaparrals franchise would move to San Antonio, Texas to initially be called the San Antonio Gunslingers before later entering the upcoming season onward as the San Antonio Spurs. As such, the San Antonio franchise would claim all of the Chaparrals franchise's draft rights from not just this draft, but also the other drafts held later in the year. That being said, every player selected in this particular draft except for George Gervin were selected as players that the ABA had deemed necessary to be drafted early via special circumstances coming out of college or university, regardless of whether they were already close toward graduating from said college or university before the draft began or not. In the case of George Gervin, he had actually left his college he was going to during his sophomore year in order to play minor league basketball of sorts in the originally named Continental Basketball Association before it was about to go defunct a year later.
1973 ABA senior draft
[edit]For these next three draft events, the San Antonio Spurs were drafting under their initial team name of the San Antonio Gunslingers at the time. They would only change their team name to the Spurs some time before the 1973–74 ABA season officially began. Also for this draft, the focus involved would have teams draft only senior eligible players from colleges and universities for teams to potentially sign onto their teams over the rivaling NBA teams. Ironically, a few of these players selected in this wouldn't technically be considered proper seniors for one reason or another.
1973 ABA undergraduate draft
[edit]The ABA undergraduate draft would be considered a continuation of the official ABA draft (known for this year as the ABA senior draft properly), with ABA teams selecting undergraduate prospects from various colleges and universities early on in the hopes that they would play for them in the ABA, similar to what they had done with some prospects in the past or with what's currently going on in the present day with some players in more modern NBA drafts. As such, this draft's round and pick orders will be listed with the official round and pick numbers as it normally would be, followed by what the ABA considered the official round and pick numbers in parentheses due to the loose structure at hand for this year's ABA draft and only this year's ABA draft.
Round | Pick | Player | Pos. | Nationality | Team | School |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
11 (1) | 101 (1) | Bill Walton^ | C | United States | San Diego Conquistadors | UCLA (Jr.) |
11 (1) | 102 (2) | David Thompson^ | SG | United States | Memphis Tams | NC State (So.) |
11 (1) | 103 (3) | Dwight Jones | PF/C | United States | San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs | Houston (Jr.) |
11 (1) | 104 (4) | Henry Williams# | F | United States | New York Nets | Jacksonville (So.) |
11 (1) | 105 (5) | Phil Smith | SG | United States | Virginia Squires | San Francisco (Jr.) |
11 (1) | 106 (6) | Marvin Barnes+ | PF/C | United States | Denver Rockets | Providence (Jr.) |
11 (1) | 107 (7) | Len Elmore | C/PF | United States | Indiana Pacers | Maryland (Jr.) |
11 (1) | 108 (8) | Bruce Seals | PF/SF | United States | Utah Stars | Xavier (Louisiana) (Jr.) |
11 (1) | 109 (9) | Don Smith | PG | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Dayton (Jr.) |
11 (1) | 110 (10) | Maurice Lucas+ | PF | United States | Carolina Cougars | Marquette (Jr.) |
12 (2) | 111 (11) | Larry Robinson# | F | United States | Memphis Tams | Texas (Jr.) |
12 (2) | 112 (12) | Tom Henderson | PG | United States | San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs | Hawaii (Jr.) |
12 (2) | 113 (13) | Jim Bradley | F | United States | San Diego Conquistadors | Northern Illinois (Jr.) |
12 (2) | 114 (14) | Campy Russell | SF | United States | New York Nets | Michigan (Jr.) |
12 (2) | 115 (15) | John Shumate | PF/C | United States | Virginia Squires | Notre Dame (Jr.) |
12 (2) | 116 (16) | Dennis DuVal | G | United States | Denver Rockets | Syracuse (Jr.) |
12 (2) | 117 (17) | Rudy Jackson# | C | United States | Indiana Pacers | Hutchinson Community Junior College (Fr.)[68][69] |
12 (2) | 118 (18) | Marvin Webster | C | United States | Utah Stars | Morgan State (So.) |
12 (2) | 119 (19) | Jim Forbes# | F | United States | Kentucky Colonels | UTEP (Jr.) |
12 (2) | 120 (20) | Kevin Restani | PF/C | United States | Carolina Cougars | San Francisco (Jr.) |
1973 ABA supplemental draft
[edit]Interestingly, the only two teams to decline participation in entering the supplemental draft for the ABA this year were the Indiana Pacers and New York Nets. All other teams involved would use multiple selections within multiple rounds in order to take whoever was available within this particular draft. Unlike the other drafts at hand, this particular draft would see scant few successes, with most of these players never even playing professionally altogether and the few that did mostly having success playing in the NBA instead.
Round | Pick | Player | Pos. | Nationality | Team | School |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Larry Moore# | C | United States | San Diego Conquistadors | UT-Arlington (Sr.) |
1 | 2 | Wardell Jeffries# | G | United States | Memphis Tams | Oklahoma Baptist (Sr.) |
1 | 3 | Craig Littlepage# | C | United States | San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs | Pennsylvania (Sr.) |
1 | 4 | Lamont King# | G | United States | Denver Rockets | Long Beach State (Sr.) |
1 | 5 | Dennis Johnson# | G | United States | Utah Stars | Ferris State (Sr.) |
1 | 6 | Steve Rowell# | G | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Rhode Island (Sr.) |
1 | 7 | Willie Calvert# | C | United States | Virginia Squires | Abilene Christian (Sr.) |
1 | 8 | Cal Tatum# | PG | United States | Carolina Cougars | Southern Colorado State (Sr.) |
2 | 9 | Slick Watts | PG | United States | Memphis Tams | Xavier (Louisiana) (Sr.) |
2 | 10 | John Coughran | F | United States | San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs | California (Sr.) |
2 | 11 | Mike Contreras# | G | United States | San Diego Conquistadors | Arizona State (Sr.) |
2 | 12 | Tom Peck# | F | United States | Denver Rockets | Wisconsin–Eau Claire (Sr.) |
2 | 13 | Bill McCoy# | G | United States | Utah Stars | Northern Iowa (Sr.) |
2 | 14 | James Garvin | PF | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Boston University (Sr.) |
2 | 15 | Don Johnson# | F | United States | Virginia Squires | Lebanon Valley College (Sr.) |
2 | 16 | Steve Smith# | F | United States | Carolina Cougars | Loyola Los Angeles (Sr.) |
3 | 17 | Roy Simpson# | F | United States | Memphis Tams | Furman (Sr.) |
3 | 18 | Bob Fullarton# | C | United States | San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs | Xavier (Sr.) |
3 | 19 | Doug Little# | G | United States | San Diego Conquistadors | Oregon (Sr.) |
3 | 20 | Lindell Reason# | G | United States | Denver Rockets | Eastern Michigan (Sr.) |
3 | 21 | James Floyd# | F | United States | Utah Stars | Shaw University (Sr.) |
3 | 22 | Chuck Witt# | F | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Western Kentucky (Sr.) |
3 | 23 | Greg Hawkins#[70] | F | United States | Virginia Squires | North Carolina State (Jr.) |
3 | 24 | Bill Bailey# | F | United States | Carolina Cougars | Catawba College (Sr.) |
4 | 25 | Norman Russell# | C | United States | Memphis Tams | Oklahoma City (Sr.)[71] |
4 | 26 | Bill Kilgore# | C | United States | San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs | Michigan State (Sr.) |
4 | 27 | Ernie Kusnyer# | F | United States | San Diego Conquistadors | Kansas State (Sr.) |
4 | 28 | Charles Golson# | C | United States | Utah Stars | College of Emporia (Sr.) |
4 | 29 | Fran Costello# | F | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Providence (Sr.) |
4 | 30 | Mike Allocco# | F | United States | Virginia Squires | Stonehill College (Sr.) |
4 | 31 | Dave Angel# | C | United States | Carolina Cougars | Clemson (Sr.) |
5 | 32 | Aaron Covington# | G | United States | Memphis Tams | Canisius (Sr.) |
5 | 33 | Ronnie Hogue# | G | United States | San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs | Georgia (Sr.) |
5 | 34 | Mike Quick# | G | United States | Utah Stars | San Francisco (Sr.) |
5 | 35 | Eddie Childress# | F | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Austin Peay (Sr.) |
5 | 36 | Alan Shaw#[72] | C | United States | Virginia Squires | Duke (Sr.) |
5 | 37 | Carl Jackson# | F | United States | Carolina Cougars | St. Bonaventure (Sr.) |
6 | 38 | Fred Lavaroni# | F | United States | Memphis Tams | Santa Clara (Sr.) |
6 | 39 | John Laing# | C | United States | San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs | Augustana College (Illinois) (Sr.) |
6 | 40 | Jerry Bisbano# | F | United States | San Diego Conquistadors | Southwestern Louisiana (Sr.) |
6 | 41 | Lee Colburn# | F | United States | Utah Stars | South Dakota State (Sr.) |
6 | 42 | Jerry Clark# | G | United States | Kentucky Colonels | Skagit Valley College (So.) |
6 | 43 | Howard White# | G | United States | Virginia Squires | Maryland (Sr.) |
6 | 44 | Lynn Greer# | C | United States | Carolina Cougars | Virginia State (Sr.) |
7 | 45 | John Wolfenberg# | F | United States | Memphis Tams | Valparaiso (Sr.) |
7 | 46 | Jeff Overhouse# | F | United States | San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs | Texas A&M (Sr.) |
7 | 47 | Mark Beckwith# | C | United States | San Diego Conquistadors | Montana State (Sr.) |
7 | 48 | Robert White# | F | United States | Utah Stars | Sam Houston State (Sr.) |
7 | 49 | Darrell Brown#[73] | F | United States | Virginia Squires | Maryland (Sr.) |
7 | 50 | Dale Adams# | F | United States | Carolina Cougars | St. Mary's College of Maryland (Sr.)[74] |
8 | 51 | Jim Crawford# | F | United States | Memphis Tams | La Salle (Sr.) |
8 | 52 | Tim Dominey# | G | United States | San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs | Valdosta State (Sr.) |
8 | 53 | Wayne Pack | PG | United States | San Diego Conquistadors | Tennessee Tech (Sr.) |
8 | 54 | Gary Watson# | F | United States | Utah Stars | Wisconsin (Sr.) |
8 | 55 | Linwood Johnson# | PF/C | United States | Virginia Squires | Virginia State (Sr.) |
8 | 56 | Terrence Murchison# | F | United States | Carolina Cougars | Fayetteville State (Sr.) |
9 | 57 | Rick Williams# | G | United States | Memphis Tams | Iowa (Sr.) |
9 | 58 | Billy Harris# | G | United States | San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs | Northern Illinois (Sr.) |
9 | 59 | Fred DeVaughn# | F | United States | San Diego Conquistadors | Westmont College (Sr.) |
9 | 60 | Larry Davis# | F | United States | Utah Stars | Centenary College (Sr.) |
10 | 61 | Joe Wise# | G | United States | Memphis Tams | Bridgewater State (Sr.) |
10 | 62 | Bob Bodell# | G | United States | San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs | Maryland (Sr.) |
10 | 63 | Ben Kelso# | G | United States | Utah Stars | Central Michigan (Sr.) |
11 | 64 | Reed Johnson# | G | United States | Memphis Tams | Oklahoma Christian College (So.) |
11 | 65 | Leon Howard# | F | United States | San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs | Wisconsin (Sr.) |
11 | 66 | Nate Hawthorne# | F | United States | Utah Stars | Southern Illinois (Sr.) |
12 | 67 | Greg Jurcisin# | C | United States | Memphis Tams | Connecticut (Sr.) |
12 | 68 | Mark Jellison# | G | United States | San Antonio Gunslingers/Spurs | Northeastern (Sr.) |
12 | 69 | John Thomas# | F | United States | Utah Stars | Joplin Junior College (Sr.)[75] |
13 | 70 | Gary Black# | G | United States | Utah Stars | Rocky Mountain College (Sr.) |
14 | 71 | Sam Whitehead# | F | United States | Utah Stars | Oregon State (Sr.) |
15 | 72 | Harvey Catchings | PF/C | United States | Utah Stars | Hardin–Simmons (Jr.) |
1974 ABA draft
[edit]Once again, the ABA would host their draft in New York, this time deciding to greatly simplify the process again. This time, the ABA draft would be reduced from 29 overall rounds from four different drafts to ten rounds held on two days for just one simple draft, with the first two rounds taking place on March 6 and the rest of the rounds afterward wrapping up the event on April 17. The draft would be notable for the fact that it would lead to one of the first successful direct to high school players in basketball history with Moses Malone being drafted by the Utah Stars directly out of Petersburg High School in Petersburg, Virginia. His success would help lead to the selection of Bill Willoughby, another direct to high school senior player, for the following year's ABA draft alongside other future successful direct to high school players in the NBA entering the late 1990s and early 2000s (and a few postgraduate high schoolers in the late 2010s as well). In addition to these 10 rounds of the regular ABA draft for college players alongside high schooler Moses Malone, there would also be what was called an ABA draft of NBA players done during that same year following the conclusion of the regular ABA draft.[76] The ABA's drafting of NBA players would last for five rounds (with the Seattle SuperSonics' Bob Kauffman being the #1 pick for that event by the Virginia Squires) and take place following the actual ABA draft's conclusion, with both the press and the fans alike not knowing what to make of the ABA's draft situation with the NBA's players of all possible things.[77] Following these draft days' conclusions, the Carolina Cougars would move to St. Louis, Missouri to become the uniquely named Spirits of St. Louis franchise,[15] the Denver Rockets would officially rebrand themselves into the Denver Nuggets (partially as a homage to the former Denver Nuggets NBA team that played in the 1949–50 NBA season, but mainly as the winning entry in their "Name That Team" contest) in order to make their personal transition into the NBA a lot more easier on their end due to the NBA already having a team named the Rockets around via the Houston Rockets,[3] and the Memphis Tams would officially rebrand themselves as the Memphis Sounds for what would later become their final season in Memphis.[21]
1974 ABA draft of NBA players
[edit]This draft was done with the intention of trying to have the ABA's teams go ahead and sign up some of the NBA's own players onto their own teams instead of remaining onto their NBA teams properly. However, none of the NBA's players would go ahead and sign up with the ABA teams that drafted them there. At most, a few of those players would join up with some of those ABA teams later on either in the ABA or the NBA instead, but not directly entering the 1974–75 ABA season. A couple of these players that were drafted by the ABA would later retire from professional play before the upcoming season began as well.
1975 ABA draft
[edit]For the final draft year of the ABA, this draft would officially last for eight rounds in New York, with the Denver Nuggets having a bonus choice taken at around the start of the draft (the Spirits of St. Louis also had a bonus pick as well, but ultimately skipped out on using it in the process).[80][81] It would also start at the latest time an ABA draft had ever started a draft, with it beginning on June 16, a few weeks after the NBA had finished up their own draft instead. By this point in time, the ABA was starting to truly feel the struggles of competing against the NBA without having a proper national TV contract to help generate more money for it. Following this draft's end, the Memphis Sounds would move up to Baltimore, Maryland to initially play as the Baltimore Hustlers before controversy with that team name forced them to rename the team into the Baltimore Claws instead,[21] while the San Diego Conquistadors would rebrand themselves as the San Diego Sails entering what would become the ABA's final season.[53] Not only that, but it was reported that the Denver Nuggets and New York Nets were trying to sneak themselves into the NBA directly ahead of the eventual NBA–ABA merger as teams that would join in early (with those two teams also wanting the Kentucky Colonels to join them before the team owner's loyalty to the ABA stopped that team from joining in[82]) before court orders forced them both to stay put for one last, final ABA season that, funnily enough, ultimately led to the Nets winning the final ABA championship over the Nuggets.[22] However, the real endgame for the ABA would come during its final season of play, with the league seeing the likes of the Baltimore Claws, San Diego Sails, Utah Stars, and Virginia Squires all fold at various points throughout the season (with the Claws folding during the preseason period, the Squires folding either near the end of or after the season before they had a chance to join the other surviving ABA teams in the upcoming NBA–ABA merger, and it getting to the point where the NBA conducted a draft with a select few undergraduate players from the ABA near the end of 1975 and the 1976 ABA All-Star Game essentially being the Denver Nuggets against the rest of the ABA's All-Stars, with the Nuggets winning that game in question), thus leaving the ABA with only six teams left (the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, Kentucky Colonels, New York Nets, San Antonio Spurs, and Spirits of St. Louis, the last of whom had originally planned to move to Utah themselves to become the Utah Rockies had the team or the ABA somehow managed to continue onward, though they were also willing to move to Hartford, Connecticut for the NBA's sake) by the end of their final season and entering the NBA–ABA merger without anything else to do on their ends besides negotiating with the NBA itself by 1976, not even being allowed to participate in the 1976 NBA draft (though the surviving teams could participate in the upcoming ABA dispersal draft not long afterward, which everyone that made it did outside of the Nuggets).
1975 ABA dispersal drafts
[edit]On October 20, 1975, four days after being given an ultimatum by the ABA regarding survival and less than a week before starting what became the ABA's final regular season, the Baltimore Claws were forcibly closed by the ABA itself after poor performances against the Virginia Squires and the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. The ABA would create an impromptu dispersal draft involving the Claws' players that remained on the roster the following day afterward, with the now nine remaining ABA teams looking over and potentially choosing who to take for their own rosters. Not every team would choose a player from the Claws, however, as three of the ABA's teams declined entry in this draft altogether in the Kentucky Colonels, New York Nets, and San Antonio Spurs. In fact, one Claws player in George Carter would join his new ABA team in the Utah Stars only after the ABA dispersal draft involving the Claws ended. Still, the following Claws players would end up being selected in the first dispersal draft of the year.
Over two weeks later following the Claws' end as a franchise, the recently rebranded San Diego Sails would also meet their unexpected end on November 11, 1975 after playing 11 games in the regular season. For the San Diego franchise, their demise would come not just from a poor start to the season following their rebranding from the Conquistadors to the Sails, but also hearing that the franchise would be shut out of the upcoming NBA–ABA merger early on due to the insistence of then-Los Angeles Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke not wanting any competition for a share of his team's fan base with another team in the southern California region. Unlike the previous dispersal draft during this year, only two of the now eight remaining ABA teams would officially utilize the dispersal draft for the Sails' players this time around: the Indiana Pacers and the San Antonio Spurs, though a couple of the Sails' players would go to some other ABA teams after the dispersal draft concluded. Not only that, but Caldwell Jones would also be held out of the dispersal draft himself due to him having signed a future contract with the Philadelphia 76ers of the rivaling NBA, with whom he had been drafted with a few years prior.[60] Still, the following Sails players would be selected in the second dispersal draft of the year for the ABA.
The third and final team to fold operations during the 1975 year was the Utah Stars, who had completed 16 games before folding operations on December 2, 1975 due to the team's owner going broke by this time. Initially, the owners of the Spirits of St. Louis franchise actually wanted to do a merger with the Utah Stars to help save both of their franchises at the same time (though likely at the price of ending one of these teams in the process, similar to the Minnesota North Stars and Cleveland Barons merger in the NHL only saving the Minnesota North Stars (now Dallas Stars) franchise as opposed to the temporary mergers of the Steagles and Card-Pitt that the Pittsburgh Steelers did in the NFL back in World War II saving every franchise involved in the end), but ultimately reneged on the merger literally the day before the Stars folded operations entirely.[84] Unlike the other two teams that folded during the 1975 year, however, the ABA did not really hold a dispersal draft for the now-former Stars players for the now seven remaining ABA teams left over. Instead, remembering that the Spirits of St. Louis franchise had discussed the idea of merging with the Utah Stars prior to the team folding, the ABA allowed the Spirits to acquire four of their best players in future Hall of Famer Moses Malone, Ron Boone, Randy Denton, and Steve Green instead in hopes of helping their franchise out of the rest of the season, as well as giving former Stars team owner Bill Daniels a 10% minority stake interest in the Spirits of St. Louis franchise. Incidentally, another franchise that looked for help to survive during the season, the Virginia Squires, also bought one of the former Stars players that was available during that time in Jim Eakins in hopes of somehow surviving the rest of the season themselves, which they did to the extent of completing the regular season, but not making it to the NBA–ABA merger meetings properly. As a result, none of the Squires' players from that final season would be utilized in a dispersal draft either by the ABA or the NBA in 1976.
Further reading
[edit]- Bradley, Robert D. (2013). The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810890695.
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Pluto, Terry, Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association (Simon & Schuster, 1990), ISBN 978-1-4165-4061-8, p. 33
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- ^ a b Bradley, Robert. "New Jersey Freighters/Americans/New York Nets Year-to-Year Notes". Remember the ABA. Archived from the original on January 6, 2024. Retrieved Dec 23, 2024.
- ^ a b c Bradley, Robert. "Oakland Americans/Oaks/Washington Caps/Virginia Squires Year-to-Year Notes". Remember the ABA. Archived from the original on May 14, 2011. Retrieved Dec 23, 2024.
- ^ Bradley, Robert D. (2013). The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810890695., pg. 106
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- ^ Bradley, Robert D. (2013). The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810890695., pg. 118
- ^ a b Bradley, Robert. "Anaheim Amigos/Los Angeles Stars/Utah Stars Year-to-Year Notes". Remember the ABA. Archived from the original on December 24, 2008. Retrieved Dec 23, 2024.
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