Historical
The Case for Ed Warner
He became one of the most prestigious collegiate players of the early 1950s, yet Ed Warner not only tarnished his legacy, but also destroyed his chance at a professional career in the same manner as his friend and fellow honorable draftee, Sherman White. Warner played a huge part in leading CCNY to both the NIT and NCAA championships in 1950. To date it is the only school to accomplish this feat and will probably remain so unless the current scheduling and popularity of the NIT changes.
Despite his 6-3 stature and lack of explosive leaping ability, he was blessed with a quick step, body control, and toughness that few could match. Warner was also the blueprint for hundreds of young African American ball players on the east coast who sought to pattern their game after him. As a sophomore in 1950 he earned the (formerly) prestigious MVP award in the NIT. Warner was on track as a first round draft pick with most NBA teams rumored to be eyeing his talents, including the Celtics.
The Problem
From the minute Warner entered college scene there were questions surrounding his transcripts. Despite graduating 827th out of 927 students at DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, he gained admission into CCNY despite their high academic standards. Warner's admission raised a few eyebrows, but no one publicly challenged the legitimacy of CCNY’s respected head coach Nate Holman’s program.
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1961-1965 Problems:
Waite Bellamy: I was able to research several stats for his college career, but Bellamy's overall numbers remain spotty, especially his sophomore season. Bellamy was another small school HBCU pick that made Marty Blake famous. Bellamy never made the NBA, but many believe it had nothing to do with talent and everything to do with the silent and unwritten quota of how many African Americans were able to be on an NBA team at one time.
Connie McGuire: While I was able to obtain his first three seasons at Oklahoma (where he played sparingly), McGuire's transfer to Southeastern Oklahoma left the trail extremely cold. After much digging I was happy to recover his stats in games played and total points for the season.
Charles Hardnett: It was difficult, but I acquired Hadnett's complete stats for his last two years at Grambling. Through additional research I obtained rebounds, points, and games played for his Freshman and Sophomore seasons. Marty Blake is also responsible for this HBCU pick. Blake was still years ahead of many NBA general managers, with the exception of Red Auerbach of the Boston Celtics. Auerbach played chess in the draft while everyone else played checkers.
Porter Meriwether & George Finley: Statistics for these Tennessee State teammates were extremely hard to come by, but this is also quite normal considering most HBCU's and major colleges of this time. Meriwether's career points were easier to obtain than points by year and games played, but his career is mostly bare except for his junior year where I found complete information. Finley is somewhat of a mystery man. I found very little on him and it's a mystery as to why he isn't listed on the roster for his first two years. I gained his senior season totals, but anything prior remains to be uncovered.
Reggie Harding: Not many young NBA fans know of Reggie Harding, but he (not Moses Malone) was the first modern player to enter the league out of high school. Despite his youth, the Pistons decided to put this raw player in the Midwest Professional Basketball league. He played one season for two different teams, but with limited time due to attitude problems with coaches. Unfortunately, the numbers from that league are spotty at best. The NBA may be grateful for the low level news reporting of the 1960's. In today's time, Harding would be a public relations nightmare. Everything about Harding was shady. His friends were drug dealers, gamblers and hustlers. He was a heroin & cocaine addict with periods of bizarre behavior, and he often disappeared hours at a time before showing up late for games with a glazed look. Harding was later murdered in Detroit. It is suspected that he owed money to drug dealers.
Highlights:
Bill Bridges: Despite his 6-foot-6 frame, Bridges was a dominant rebounder and defender during his thirteen years in the NBA. He was a three time all-star with a career average of a double-double in points and rebounds, but his physical style of play often led to a great deal of fouls. Bridges ended his career with a championship in his final season with the 1975 Golden State Warriors.
Jon McGlocklin: McGlocklin became the first player, along with teammate Flynn Robinson, to represent the Bucks in the NBA all-star game, but the team remained a below average until Kareem Abdul-Jabbar arrived. Abdul-Jabbar's superstar presence drew double teams consistently, which helped to augment McGlocklin's standout shooting ability. In 1971 McGlocklin was a starter for the Bucks one and only championship team.
Bob Love: Love is one of the NBA's smoothest performers, but is often forgotten in Chicago Bulls' history because of the player who followed. The Jordan era may leave Love's name off the tongue of casual fans, but to hardcore fans he remains one of the 1970's most fluid ballplayers. The three time all-star was a mere after thought when the Cincinnati Royals selected him in the 4th round of the 1965 NBA Draft. After bouncing around to NBA teams Cincinnati and Milwaukee, Love was traded to Chicago for a fresh start on a team with a new coach, Dick Motta. Throughout Motta's coaching career he ran his teams with a forward-oriented offensive philosophy, meaning forwards are to get the ball first on offense. This gave Love plenty of opportunities to impress with his silky shooting. After his playing days were over he conquered a long time problem with severe stuttering and can now be seen at numerous speaking venues.
High Tier Role Players: Third and Fourth Round role players selected during this period were spectacular. Don Nelson, Keith Erickson, Barry Clemens, Bob Weiss, Tony Kimball, Jim Davis, Happy Hairston, McCoy McLemore, Wali Jones and Chico Vaughn all played an average of 670 career games in the NBA. The ABA protesters may argue that Vaughn should be left off the list because he played a few seasons with the ABA's Pittsburgh Pipers, but those purists must not forget that Vaughn's 327 NBA career games included him averaging a little over 20 minutes per game. He's definitely a role player, and he may have stayed in the league had the ABA never surfaced.
This is more great stuff out my historical vault. Enjoy these newest profiles and watch for the next release of 3rd and 4th round draft picks (1966-1970).
Enjoy! Matthew Maurer
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1956-1960 Problems:
Jim Spivey: Jim Spivey is no relation to former Kentucky great Bill Spivey, but he was a tremendous player for Southeastern Oklahoma. That college name may ring a bell thanks to alumnus and rebound king, Dennis Rodman. The school only has record of Spivey's total career points. There is no breakdown, but I was still able gather his scoring and games played through additional research. Yet to be obtained are his remaining college statistics.
Small School Gems: To some degree, Raeford Wells, Ed Kazakavich, Ken Remley, Charles Sharp, and Dan Swartz have various holes in their college stats. If you feel there are any errors in the numbers, please contact me, stating the correction and your source of reference. Unfortunately the stats were built from the ground up and had no singular source, but are a collection of various sources.
Highlights:
Wayne Embry: Hall of Famer Wayne Embry (as a contributor, not a player) was a five time All-Star. As an African American he had several great ccomplishments: Embry was one of the first in all of professional sports to hold a front office position, the very first to be named NBA General Manager, and in 1994, he became the NBA's first black team president (as part of the Cleveland Cavaliers).
Quality Role Players: Role players during this time period were not tremendous as a whole, yet greatly improved over previous years with key players like Dave Piontek, Bucky Bockhorn, and Paul Neumann. This can be attributed to the death of the NIBL (National Industrial Basketball League) and ABL (American Basketball League). Both leagues were unable to compete financially as the NBA rose to prominence and became more attractive to players who might otherwise have gone elsewhere just five years prior.
I'm glad to bring this latest source of draft history out of my vault. Up next will be the release of 3rd and 4th round picks from 1961-1965.
Enjoy! Matthew Maurer
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This week begins the roll out of 3rd and 4th round profiles starting with players from the 1950-1955 drafts. At this time access is available from the draft board only.
Because of the large amount of new profiles in the database and the amount of input work involved, it will take more time for the latest profiles to be accessible from "By State", "By College", "By Last Name", "By Position" and "By NBA Teams". My goal is to have that available by winter.
During this time I will spotlight key players and speak a little about the research that still has a few holes in it. Maybe the great basketball minds that come to the site will be gracious enough to fill in those blanks.
The later draft rounds can be accessed from the top of each draft board as highlighted below.
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1950-1955 Problems:
Stan Christie: I am certain my information is correct, but I need some clarification as to whether he was in the Armed Forces. Because of the fact that he was eligible for the draft despite his junior class status, it leads me to believe he spent time elsewhere (after high school) before attending Southern California.
Charles Marazovich & Paul Hicks: Both are Eastern Kentucky alumni and their first two years of stats have been very hard to find. I was extremely lucky to have the 1949 and 1950 scorebooks, but do not possess the 1947 or 1948 season stats.
1952 & 1953 NBA Draft Order: During this time the NBA was at war with the NIBL (National Industrial Basketball League) and concerned about showing their draft order for fear that the NIBL would have a window into what players they valued and desired. The only team that consistently recorded their order during this time period were the Boston Celtics, which probably had much to do with the Godfather of basketball statistics, Bill Mokray, who was in their employ. Mokray was a great mind with a desire to organize and record anything that had to do with basketball, which was uncommon in those days.
Highlights:
Bud Grant: The pro football Hall of Famer was actually a solid basketball player who spent two seasons playing for his local pro team, the Minneapolis Lakers. Grant left after his second season to pursue a professional football career where he became an excellent Head football coach for the Minnesota Vikings, leading the team to one NFL Championship and four Super Bowl Appearances.
NIBL: The National Industrial Basketball League proved the NBA was justified in their practice of hiding draft orders in 1952 and 1953. Notable players like Howie Williams, Ron Bontemps, Burdette Haldorson, B.H. Born, Dick Boushka, Walt Walowac passed on the NBA for the financial security of various Industrial Clubs. This was a dangerous time for the NBA due to the college basketball scandal that made the talent level scarce and robbed the sport of Sherman White, Jim Spivey and Gene Melchiorre. The NIBL remained a thorn in the NBA’s side for a few more years until they slowly gained financial strength and overtook the NIBL in acquiring superstar talent.
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It's been a long road more than two years in the making, but the wait is almost over. It's time to get excited about draft history all over again!
In just a few short weeks you will have access to an additional 1,100 player profiles that can only be found on The Draft Review as I present each and every 3rd and 4th round draft selection dating back to 1950. This comes complete with photos, vitals, and game statistics, plus feature stories on select players that you won't hear about anywhere else.
But the work doesn't stop there. I'm moving on to the 5th and 6th rounds and will continue my work until all players in each of the 21 rounds is made available to you. Much like the work involved with rounds three and four, my ongoing efforts to expand historical references beyond what others have made available takes time, money, diligence, and a ton of coffee!
I'm dedicated to producing the most exhaustive NBA draft history resource that cannot be matched and also look forward to sharing players' personal stories - the tragic, the heartwarming, and the celebratory.
Thanks for being a fan of The Draft Review. Stick around for the ride because there's more to come!
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