ABA/NBA BLACK COLLEGE BASKETBALL DRAFTEES
Don Barksdale, the very first Black player to be named All-America at UCLA (1947-50), joined the first players from a black college to sign an NBA contract in 1950. Barksdale, 6-6, was also the first African American to appear in an NBA All-Star Game in 1953 and the first black player on the ’48 Olympic Gold medal team. However, he was the third African-American after Chuck Cooper joined Boston and Earl Lloyd signed with the Washington Capitols, becoming the first from a black college. He was followed by Bob Wilson and Nate ‘Sweetwater’ Clifton in the same draft in 1950. Since then, there have been more than 321 drafted and signed as free agents from the Black college ranks.
Here is the list…have fun with it…let us know if you can add to it.
Edd Hayes
| 1948-64 | ||||||
| Player/School | Ht. | Pos. | Draft Rnd | Draft No. | Team |
|
| 1948 | Henry DeZonie Clark University (Fourth black player to sign a pro contract | 6-6 | F/C | – | – | Dayton Rens (NBL) |
| 1950 | Earl Lloyd West VA State 1st Black College Player to play in the NBA | 6-5 | F | 9 | 101 | Washington Capitols |
| Nat ‘Sweetwater’ Clifton Xavier, LA 1st Black Player to sign with the Knicks | 6-8 | F | – | – | New York Knicks | |
| 1951 | Bob Wilson West VA State One of first signees in the NBA | 6-4 | G | – | – | Milwaukee Hawks |
| 1954 | Ken McBride Maryland-Eastern Shore | 6-3 | F/G | – | – | Milwaukee Hawks |
| 1955 | Robert L. Williams Florida A&M | 6-7 | F | – | – | Minneapolis Lakers |
| 1956 | Bob Hopkins Grambling State | 6-8 | F/C | – | – | Syracuse Nationals |
| 1957 | Sam Jones North Carolina College 8-time NBA Champs 1959-69 | 6-4 | G/F | 1 | 8 | Boston Celtics |
| Bob McCoy Grambling State | 6-10 | C | 2-2 | 10 | Detroit Pistons | |
| Joel Ingram Jackson State | 6-0 | G | – | – | Minneapolis Lakers | |
| Max Jamerson Kentucky State | 7-0 | C | 5 | 53 | Philadelphia Warriors | |
| Woody Sauldsberry Jr. Texas Southern | 6-7 | F/C | 5 | 53 | Philadelphia Warriors | |
| 1958 | Bennie Swain Texas Southern | 6-8 | F | 1-7 | 7 | Boston Celtics 1st Black player to sign with the Celtics |
| Jim Dew | 12-3 | 80 | Detroit Pistons | |||
| Joe Buckhalter Tennessee State First TSU Tiger to sign a Pro contract | 6-7 | C | 12-4 | 81 | Louis Hawks | |
| 1959 | Dick Barnett Tennessee State NAIA Champs 1957, 58, 59 | 6-4 | G | 1-4 | 4 | Syracuse Nationals |
| 1960 | Al Attles North Carolina A&T | 6-0 | G | 5-7 | Philadelphia Warriors GSW 1975 NBA Champs; San Francisco Warriors/Head Coach |
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| Howard Mills Grambling State | 11-3 | 76 | New York Knicks | |||
| 1961 | Cleo Hill Winston-Salem State | 6-1 | G | 1-8 | 8 | St. Louis Hawks |
| George Finley Tennessee State | 7-0 | C | 4-3 | 35 | Detroit Pistons | |
| Rossie Johnson Tennessee State | 5-2 | 43 | Cincinnati Royals | |||
| Bruce Spraggins Virginia Union | 6-5 | F | 5-6 | 47 | Philadelphia Warriors | |
| Cleveland Buckner Jackson State | 6-9 | F/C | 6-1 | 51 | New York Knicks | |
| Rex Tippitt Grambling State | 9-5 | 81 | Syracuse Nationals | |||
| Herbert Gray North Carolina A&T | 9-6 | 82 | St. Louis Hawks | |||
| Charles Riley Winston-Salem State | 7-7 | 66 | St. Louis Hawks | |||
| Walter Ward Hampton Institute | 8-3 | 71 | Detroit Pistons | |||
| 1962 | Zelmo Beatty Prairie View A&M | 6-9 | C | 1-3 | 3 | St. Louis Hawks |
| Ben Warley Tennessee State | 6-5 | F/G | 1-6 | 6 | Syracuse Nationals | |
| Porter Meriwether Tennessee State | 6-2 | G | 3-5 | 21 | Syracuse Nationals | |
| Charles Hardnett Grambling State | 6-8 | F/C | 3-3 | 19 | St. Louis Hawks | |
| Jackie Jackson Virginia Union | 6-10 | F/C | 5-7 | 41 | Philadelphia Warriors | |
| Marvin Trotman Elizabeth City State | 6-6 | F | 9-3 | 72 | St. Louis Hawks | |
| 1963 | Hershell West Grambling State | 2-8 | 15 | Syracuse Nationals | ||
| Waite Bellamy Florida A&M | 6-3 | F | 4-6 | 32 | St. Louis Hawks | |
| Al Santio Maryland State | 6-6 | 50 | St. Louis Hawks | |||
| Hugh Evans North Carolina A&T | 6-1 | G | 12-2 | 79 | St. Louis Hawks | |
| 1964 | Willis Reed Grambling State 1964 NAIA Champions | 6-10 | C | 2-1 | 8 | New York Knicks 1969, 71 NBA Champs…2-time MVP |
| Bobby Joe Edmonds Tennessee State | 6’6 | F | 6-3 | 3 | Baltimore Bullets | |
| Ernest Brock Virginia State | 7-0 | C | 6-6 | 49 | St. Louis Hawks | |
| Maurice McHartley North Carolina A&T | 6-3 | G/F | 7-6 | 58 | St. Louis Hawks | |
| Wally Briggs North Carolina A&T | 10-3 | 80 | Philadelphia 76ers | |||
| Frank Stephens | 6-10 | C | 10-4 | 81 | St. Louis Hawks Indiana Pipers (ABA) |
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| Richard Glover Winston-Salem State | 11-2 | 86 | Baltimore Bullets | |||
| Julius Myers Morris Brown | 12-2 | 91 | Philadelphia 76ers | |||
| 1965 | Hal Blevins Arkansas A&M | 2-3 | 10 | New York Knicks | ||
| Bob Love Southern | 6-8 | F | 4-7 | 29 | Cincinnati Royals | |
| Malbert Pradd Dillard | 6-3 | G | 58 | Chicago Bulls | ||
| Warren Davis North Carolina A&T | 6-6 | F | 7-2 | 51 | New York Knicks | |
| Ted Manning North Carolina College | 6-8 | C/F | 7-2 | 61 | Detroit Pistons | |
| Lawrence LeFlore Jackson State | 7-44 | 53 | Baltimore Bullets | |||
| Willie Cotton Central State, Ohio | 9-1 | 66 | San Francisco Warriors | |||
| Thales McReynolds Miles | 6-3 | G | 11 | Baltimore Bullets | ||
| Oliver Jones Albany State | 6-11 | C | 13-5 | 94 | Cincinnati Royals | |
| 1966 | Ron Jackson Clark-Atlanta | 5-1 | 41 | New York Knicks | ||
| John Comeaux Grambling State | 6-5 | F | 7-9 | 68 | Chicago Bulls | |
| Guy Manning Prairie View A&M | 6-6 | F | 10-3 | 87 | Baltimore Bullets Houston Mavericks (ABA) |
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| 1967 | Earl Monroe Winston-Salem State 1967 NCAA Div. Player of the Year 1967 NCAA Div. II Champions | 6-4 | G | 1-2 | 1 | Washington Bullets 1972 NBA Champs, NY Knicks |
| James Jones Grambling State | 6-4 | G/F | 2-1 | 13 | Baltimore Bullets New Orleans Bucs (ABA) |
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| Thomas Washington Cheyney State | 6-7 | F | 5-7 | 50 | Cincinnati Royals | |
| James Reid Winston-Salem State 1967 NCAA Div. II Champs | 6-6 | G | 5-10 | 53 | Philadelphia 76ers New Orleans Buccaneers (ABA) |
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| Frank Card South Carolina State | 6-7 | F | 7-10 | 77 | Philadelphia 76ers | |
| Ed Manning Jackson State | 6-7 | F | 8-1 | 80 | Baltimore Bullets | |
| Cincinnatus Powell , Portland, Xavier, LA | 6-7 | F/C | 8-5 | 66 | St . Louis Hawks | |
| Arvesta Kelly Lincoln, MO | 6-2 | G | 8-6 | 85 | St Louis Hawks | |
| Robert Allen Arkansas A&M | 9-1 | 9-1 | +2 | Baltimore Bullets Dallas Chaparrals (ABA) |
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| Walt Simon Benedict | 6-6 | F/G | 12 | New Jersey Nets (ABA) | ||
| Bill Bradley Tennessee State/Evansville | 5-11 | G | Kentucky Colonels (ABA) | |||
| Tyrone Britt NC Central /JC Smith | 6-4 | F | San Diego Conquistadors(ABA) | |||
| David Gaines LeMoyne-Owen | 6-1 | G | Kentucky Colonels (ABA) | |||
| Tommy Lee Bowens Grambling State | 6-8 | F | Denver Rockets (ABA) | |||
| Johnny Mathis | 6-6 | F | New Jersey Nets (ABA) | |||
| Willie Porter Tennessee State | 6-7 | F | Oakland-Pitt Pipers (ABA) | |||
| John Postley Bethune-Cookman | 6-5 | F | Pittsburgh Pipers (ABA) | |||
| Willis Bennett Winston-Salem State | 6-3 | G | Dallas-Houston Rockets(ABA) | |||
| Willis Thomas Tennessee State | 6-2 | G | Denver-Anaheim (ABA) | |||
| Al Jackson Wilberforce | 6-1 | G | Cincinnati Royals | |||
| Al Beard Norfolk State | 6-9 | C | New Jersey Americans(ABA) | |||
| 1968 | Ken Wilburn Central State, Ohio | 6-6 | F | 4-9 | 39 | Philadelphia 76ers |
| Rich Johnson Grambling State | 6-7 | C | 4-10 | 46 | Boston Celtics | |
| Ed Chapin Voorhees | 6-4 | C | 5-4 | 54 | Baltimore Bulletts | |
| Carl Fuller Bethune-Cookman | 6-9 | C | 5-6 | 56 | Floridians (ABA) | |
| Calvin Martin Texas Southern | 6-5 | 69 | Cincinnati Royals | |||
| Oscar Smith Elizabeth City State | 6-8 | C | 7-11 | 69 | Atlanta Hawks | |
| Aaron Sellers Jackson State | 8-1 | 93 | San Diego Rockets | |||
| Melvin Jones Albany State | 6-10 | C | 8-12 | 104 | Philadelphia 76ers | |
| Mack Daughtry Albany State | 6-3 | G | 9-11 | 117 | Atlanta Hawks Carolina Cougars (ABA) |
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| Sylvester Adams North Carolina A&T | 10-8 | 128 | New York Knicks | |||
| Henry Watkins Tennessee State | 11-10 | 144 | Atlanta Hawks | |||
| Dwight Waller Tennessee State | 6-6 | F | 10-11 | 131 | Atlanta Hawks | |
| Lee Davis North Carolina A&T | 10-13 | 133 | Phoenix Suns | |||
| Roy Manning Lane | 12-1 | 148 | San Diego Rockets | |||
| Ted Campbell North Carolina A&T | G | 12-11 | 158 | Philadelphia 76ers | ||