# 1961 NBA draft

The 1961 NBA draft was the 15th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 27, 1961, before the 1961–62 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players. A player who had finished his four-year college eligibility was eligible for selection. If a player left college early, he would not be eligible for selection until his college class graduated. In each round, the teams select in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season. Before the draft, a team could forfeit its first-round draft pick and then select any player from within a 50-mile radius of its home arena as their territorial pick. An expansion franchise, the Chicago Packers, were assigned the first pick of the first round and the last pick of each subsequent round, along with five extra picks at the end of the second round. The draft consisted of 15 rounds comprising 107 players selected.

## Draft selections and draftee career notes

Walt Bellamy from the Indiana University was selected first overall by the Chicago Packers. Bellamy went on to win the Rookie of the Year Award in his first season and was also selected to the All-Star Game. In his rookie season, he averaged 31.6 points per game, the second highest scoring average for a rookie, and 19.0 rebounds per game, the third highest rebounding average for a rookie. He was selected to four consecutive All-Star Games during his stint with the Packers, which later became the Chicago Zephyrs and Baltimore Bullets. He then played for three other NBA teams during his 14-year career. For his achievements, he has been inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Three other players from this draft, 7th pick Tom Meschery, 21st pick Don Kojis and 32nd pick Bill Bridges, have also been selected to at least one All-Star Game. Doug Moe, the 22nd pick, never played in the NBA. His contract with the Packers was voided due to his suspected involvement in the college basketball point shaving scandal. He eventually played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) for five years. He won the ABA championship in 1969 and was selected to three ABA All-Star Games and two All-ABA Teams. After his playing career, he became a head coach. He coached four NBA teams and won the Coach of the Year Award in 1988 with the Denver Nuggets. Ray Scott, the 4th pick, played for the Detroit Pistons for five and a half seasons before he moved on to play with two other teams in the NBA and ABA. After retiring as a player in 1972, he immediately became a head coach. He coached the Pistons for three and a half seasons and won the Coach of the Year Award in 1974. Two other players drafted also went on to have a coaching career: 12th pick Johnny Egan and 60th pick Donnie Butcher.
Similar to the 1951 draft, this draft would also be marked by a significant number of players being permanently banned in the NBA before even playing a single game due to their participation in a significant college scandal, in this case a gambling scandal. While none of the players selected this year were considered to have been as high profile of players as Gene Melchiorre, the #1 pick of the 1951 NBA draft was, a significant amount of players drafted during this time were still permanently banned due to their participation in the event all the same. Players from this draft that got selected by teams there, but were later permanently banned by the NBA (at least in terms of playing there) included the likes of Leroy Wright (the 16th pick of the draft), Jerry Graves (the 19th pick of the draft), Doug Moe (the 22nd pick of the draft), Tony Jackson (the 24th pick of the draft), Jack Egan (the 29th pick of the draft), and Vincent Kempton (the 107th and final pick of the draft). Many other players that went undrafted following this scandal would also be permanently banned by extension also, including two college freshmen at the time who would since become Hall of Famers following the case.

## 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 |
| $^#$ | Denotes player who has never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game |

## Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Pos. | Nationality | Team | School/club team |
| 1 | 1 | Walt Bellamy^ | C | United States | Chicago Packers | Indiana |
| 1 | 2 | Tom Stith | F | United States | New York Knicks | St. Bonaventure |
| 1 | 3 | Larry Siegfried | F | United States | Cincinnati Royals | Ohio State |
| 1 | 4 | Ray Scott | F/C | United States | Detroit Pistons | Allentown Jets (EPBL) |
| 1 | 5 | Wayne Yates | C | United States | Los Angeles Lakers | Memphis State |
| 1 | 6 | Ben Warley | G/F | United States | Syracuse Nationals | Cleveland Pipers (NIBL) |
| 1 | 7 | Tom Meschery$^+$ | F | United States | Philadelphia Warriors | Saint Mary's (CA) |
| 1 | 8 | Cleo Hill | G | United States | St. Louis Hawks | Winston-Salem State |
| 1 | 9 | Gary Phillips | G | United States | Boston Celtics | Houston |
| 2 | 10 | Whitey Martin | G | United States | New York Knicks | St. Bonaventure |
| 2 | 11 | Bob Wiesenhahn | F | United States | Cincinnati Royals | Cincinnati |
| 2 | 12 | Johnny Egan | G | United States | Detroit Pistons | Providence |
| 2 | 13 | Fred Sawyer$^#$ | C | United States | Los Angeles Lakers | Louisville |
| 2 | 14 | Chris Smith$^#$ | C | United States | Syracuse Nationals | Virginia Tech |
| 2 | 15 | Ted Luckenbill | F | United States | Philadelphia Warriors | Houston |
| 2 | 16 | Ron Horn | F | United States | St. Louis Hawks | Indiana |
| 2 | 17 | Al Butler | G | United States | Boston Celtics | Niagara |
| 2 | 18 | Jack Turner | G/F | United States | Chicago Packers | Louisville |
| 2 | 19 | Jerry Graves$^#$ | F | United States | Chicago Packers | Mississippi State |
| 2 | 20 | York Larese | G | United States | Chicago Packers | North Carolina |
| 2 | 21 | Don Kojis$^+$ | F | United States | Chicago Packers | Marquette |
| 2 | 22 | Doug Moe$^#$ | G/F | United States | Chicago Packers | North Carolina |
| 2 | 23 | Jeff Cohen$^#$ | C | United States | Chicago Packers | William & Mary |

## Other picks

The following list includes other draft picks who have appeared in at least one NBA game.
| Round | Pick | Player | Pos. | Nationality | Team | School/club team |
| 3 | 25 | Bevo Nordmann | C | United States | Cincinnati Royals | Saint Louis |
| 3 | 26 | Doug Kistler | F | United States | Detroit Pistons | Duke |
| 3 | 28 | Chuck Osborne | F | United States | Syracuse Nationals | Western Kentucky |
| 3 | 32 | Bill Bridges$^+$ | F/C | United States | Chicago Packers | Kansas |
| 4 | 33 | George Blaney | G | United States | New York Knicks | Holy Cross |
| 5 | 42 | Bill Smith | G/F | United States | New York Knicks | Saint Peter's |
| 5 | 44 | Danny Doyle | F | United States | Detroit Pistons | Belmont Abbey |
| 5 | 50 | Howie Carl | G | United States | Chicago Packers | DePaul |
| 6 | 51 | Cleveland Buckner | F/C | United States | New York Knicks | Jackson State |
| 7 | 60 | Donnis Butcher | G | United States | New York Knicks | Pikeville |
| 7 | 61 | Dave Zeller | G | United States | Cincinnati Royals | Miami (OH) |
| 10 | 91 | Larry Comley | G | United States | Chicago Packers | Kansas State |
| 11 | 92 | Kevin Loughery | G | United States | New York Knicks | St. John's |
| 12 | 100 | George Patterson | F/C | United States | Cincinnati Royals | Toledo |

## Notable undrafted players

These players were not selected in the 1961 draft but played at least one game in the NBA.
| Player | Pos. | Nationality | School/club team |
| Ed Burton | SF | United States | Allentown Jets (EPBL) |