# 1949 BAA draft

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

## Draft selections and draftee career notes

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

## Key

| Pos. | G | F | C |
| Position | Guard | Forward | Center |
| ^ | Denotes player who has been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |
| * | Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game and All-NBA Team |
| $^+$ | Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game |
| $^#$ | Denotes player who has never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game |

## Draft

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

## Other picks

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

## Undrafted players

These players were not selected in the 1949 draft but played at least one game in the NBA.
| Player | Pos. | Nationality | School/club team |
| Edward Bartels | SG/SF | United States | NC State (Jr.) |
| Vince Boryla | SF/PF | United States | Denver (Sr.) |
| Joe Bradley | SG | United States | Oklahoma A&M (Sr.) |
| Bob Brown | SF | United States | Miami (Ohio) (Sr.) |
| Leroy Chollet | SG/SF | United States | Canisius (Sr.) |
| Joe Dolhon | PG | United States | NYU (Jr.) |
| George Feigenbaum | PG | United States | Long Island (So.) |
| Normie Glick | SF/PF | United States | Marymount (So.) |
| Al Guokas | SG/SF | United States | Saint Joseph's (So.) |
| Bob Hahn | C | United States | NC State (Sr.) |
| Bob Harrison | PG | United States | Michigan (Sr.) |
| Bill Herman | SG | United States | Mount Union (Sr.) |
| Howie Janotta | SF | United States | Seton Hall (Sr.) |
| Frank Kudelka | SG/SF | United States | Saint Mary's (California) (Jr.) |
| Mal McMullen | PF/C | United States | Xavier (Jr.) |
| Al Miksis | C | United States | Western Illinois (Sr.) |
| Dermie O'Connell | PG | United States | Holy Cross (So.) |
| Mike O'Neill | SG/SF | United States | California (Sr.) |
| Charlie Parsley | SG | United States | Western Kentucky (Sr.) |
| John Payak | SG | United States | Bowling Green (Sr.) |
| Jack Phelan | SG/SF | United States | DePaul (Sr.) |
| Marv Schatzman | SF/PF | United States | Saint Louis (So.) |
| Wayne See | SG | United States | Northern Arizona (Sr.) |
| Paul Walther | G | United States | Tennessee (Sr.) |
| Isaac Walthour | PG | United States | Benjamin Franklin (New York) (HS Sr.) |
| Bob Wood | PG | United States | Northern Illinois (Sr.) |