The1951 NBA draft was the fifth annualdraft of theNational Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 25, 1951, before the1951–52 season. In thisdraft, ten remaining NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S.college basketball players. In each round, the teams selected in reverse order of their win–loss record in theprevious season. TheTri-Cities Blackhawks participated in the draft, but relocated toMilwaukee and became theMilwaukee Hawks prior to the start of the season.[2] The draft consisted of 12 rounds comprising 87 players selected. This draft was the league’s first, and along with the2000 NBA Draft, one of only two to date, to produce noNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame players (excluding drafts with players not yet eligible).
Gene Melchiorre fromBradley University was selectedfirst overall by theBaltimore Bullets. However, he never played in the NBA due to his involvement in apoint shaving scandal while playing college basketball.[3] Melchiorre would be joined by fellow Bradley teammates Bill Mann (the 21st pick of the draft) and Aaron Preece (the 72nd pick of the draft) in terms of players selected in this year's draft to never play in the NBA due to their involvement in the aforementioned point shaving scandal (other individuals involved and named at the time either went undrafted at the time, were already selected in previous drafts before this year, or were already disqualified from entering the draft this year due to the discovery at hand).Whitey Skoog fromUniversity of Minnesota was selected before the draft asMinneapolis Lakers'territorial pick.
^Bradley, Robert D. (2013).The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts. Scarecrow Press.ISBN9780810890695., pg. 20
^"Hawks: Franchise History".NBA.com/Hawks. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc.Archived from the original on December 2, 2009. RetrievedOctober 30, 2009.
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