The 3rd and 4th rounds are finally complete! I thank you for your patience as this information unfolded, and offer my thanks to everyone who provided their assistance during the research process. Now it’s to take the next step with this vast amount of information: to place each profile in its proper place. I will dedicate the next few months to upgrading the NBA teams, State, Country, College, Last Name, Position and by Pick draft pages. Your loyalty to the site and zest for draft history has reinvigorated me in this long and sometimes tiring process.

1981-1988 Main Highlights:

Drazen Petrovic– By the time Petrovic entered the NBA at the young age of 25 he was already an established European legend, adored by his country of Croatia. Petrovic entered the NBA three years after the Portland Trailblazers drafted him in the third round of the 1986 NBA draft.

Petrovic doing what he did best Scoring!

Mark Eaton - Despite his height, Eaton never took to basketball in his youth. Instead, the 6-11 senior loved playing trumpet and water polo. Much of this lack of interest had to do with his limited success due to poor strength and coordination. After sitting the bench in high school Eaton enrolled in automotive school to become a mechanic. But his chance meeting with an assistant coach at Cypress Community College proved fruitful. After dedicating himself to getting in shape and improving his skills, UCLA became intrigued with Eaton’s 7-foot-2 frame and offered him a scholarship. UCLA head coach Larry Brown inherited the philosophy of taking chances on center projects from his mentor and former coach, North Carolina’s Dean Smith. But Larry Brown left the program after Eaton’s junior season, moving on to coach the New Jersey Nets. Brown’s replacement, Larry Farmer, did not agree with the vision for Eaton. His minutes per game were literally cut in half (8.1 MPG to 4.1 MPG), which clearly affected his confidence. Coach Farmer didn’t even take Eaton with the team for UCLA’s last road trip, choosing freshmen instead. But fate again would shape Eaton’s future as Utah Jazz’s head coach Frank Layden drafted him in the fourth round amongst many stares by NBA observers. Faith in the now 7-foot-4, 300-pound center would prove genius as Eaton became a one time all-star and two time NBA defensive player of the year. Eaton remains the NBA’s number five leader in career block shots.

Anthony Mason - He may be one of the best to play basketball during his era, yet Anthony Mason is unappreciated. Mason was a physical force with the appearance of a defensive end in football, but was blessed with ball handling and passing only trumped by elite point guards. Mason was versatile enough to play both forward positions because of his ability to pound the glass, and was often used by Knicks head coach Pat Riley as a point forward. This one time all-star and 1995 Sixth Man of the Year award winner never received the respect that players with lesser talent achieved. Some of this could be due to Mason’s poor, off court behavior. His public fights and run-ins with police made him an easy media target. To compound these issues, most NBA head coaches outside of Pat Riley often viewed Mason’s competitive and talkative nature un-coachable. Regardless, Mason remains one of the NBA best steals in the later rounds of the draft.

Chris Dudley - Dudley was a third generation Yale man in his family and was able to carve a decent NBA career despite hailing from an Ivy League school. Not only is it rare to find NBA caliber players in the non athletic scholarship Ivy League, but a player like Dudley with limited offensive skills and poor instincts usually ruins any chance of playing basketball on the next level. But Dudley understood very early that he was not in the NBA to score. He was there for his one NBA level skill - rebounding. Anything else that a team received from Dudley in terms of points or assists was a bonus. He was a quality shot blocker who played physical post defense, yet this often limited some of his time on the floor due to being foul prone. Dudley has recently announced his candidacy to run for governor of Oregon. It is rumored that he will run of the Republican ticket.

Michael Adams - Adams made a living as a streak three-point shooting specialist who at times was a decent point guard. Despite his small stature Adams played more like a shooting guard, which was on full display in 1991 as he averaged 26.5 Points and 10.5 Assists per game while earning a trip to the All-Star game. Not many league observers were surprised as Denver Nuggets head coach Paul Westhead (fresh from coaching at Loyola Marymount) had a shot-a-second offensive philosophy. Orlando Wooldridge (25.1) and Michael Adams (26.5) were his chosen men to hoist up as many shots as possible from anywhere on the court at any time. Adams never came close to achieving those numbers again, but make no mistake, to get a full time starter in the 3rd round (66th pick overall) is an absolute steal in every sense of the word.

Lewis Lloyd - Lloyd is one of the most respected street ball players on the East coast. He hailed from Philly and was a great pick for the Houston Rockets. The Missouri Valley Conference player of the year helped lead the 1986 Houston Rockets to the NBA Finals along with teammates Ralph Sampson andHakeem Olajuwon. While the future looked bright for the franchise, budding starters Lewis Lloyd and Mitchell Wiggins were banned by the NBA for two years for violating the substance abuse policy. While he eventually returned to the NBA in 1990 his limited success on the court unfortunately made it his last season. Rumor has it he stills roams the West Philly courts looking for runs, so be careful if you see an older gentleman standing 6-6 with a smooth game.

Other Notables - Craig Hodges, Sam Mitchell, Mike Sanders, Jim Peterson, John Battle, Kenny Gattison, Anthony Bowie, Jim Les, Donald Royal, Kevin Gamble, Jack Haley, Frank Brickowski, Spud Webb and Craig Ehlo.

1981-1988 Research Problems:

John Horrock - Horrocks’s freshman year stats at Cooke County Community College are not known at this time. Thankfully, everything else in his profile is complete.

Bill Breeding - Breeding’s lack of information is another in the long line of reasons why I have chosen to do draft history. Despite being the school’s second draftee, no known stats can be found. Luckily, I was able to secure his career stats at Rocky Mountain College by one of the former coaches. With the sad death of Breeding in 2002 also went another possible avenue of information is lost. This profile remains open to research, including any information that can be offered.

Song Tao - Unfortunately, much of Tao’s numbers are limited due to the China National Team’s participation in underreported competitions. Language barriers and lack of statistical resources have also hampered research on Tao, but his back story is quite interesting. Tao was China’s first offering to the NBA as a high jumping forward cut in the mold of NBA great Tom Chambers, but his explosive leaping ability would be a thing of the past as a devastating knee injury ruined all chances him making it to the NBA.

Johnny Martin - Martin is one of those players who was a bit of a mystery during the early part of his research. I have not yet confirmed that he played his freshman year at Arkansas College, which is now known as Lydon College. If my suspicions are correct I believe Martin was injured his freshman year and didn’t play much, which could be the reason for his transfer student status in 1980-81. One thing is certain - the NBA didn’t view him as an underclassman when he came out. Now the question is did he play his freshman year or did his transfer year add to his 4 year eligibility? This is pending clarification, including any leads that can be offered.

Quick Research Facts:

Time taken to research and publish 1st & 2nd Rounds: Ten years

Time taken to research and publish 3rd & 4th Rounds: Three years

Next Steps: Did anyone say "5th & 6th rounds"? Enjoy these latest profiles!

Matthew Maurer