1948 BAA Draft

The 1948 BAA Draft was the second player draft in Basketball Association of America history. The BAA was still one year away from its 1949 merger with the National Basketball League that created the modern NBA, making this one of the most important drafts from professional basketball's formative era.

The draft was complicated by major changes to the professional basketball landscape. The Indianapolis Kautskys, Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, Minneapolis Lakers and Rochester Royals moved from the NBL to the BAA, greatly expanding the draft field. Indianapolis became the Jets and Fort Wayne dropped "Zollner" from its official team name.

Providence selected Andy Tonkovich first overall. The most important first-round selection, however, was New York's choice of NYU star Dolph Schayes at No. 4. Schayes did not sign with the Knicks and instead joined the Syracuse Nationals of the rival NBL. He eventually became one of the greatest players of the NBA's first two decades.

Other major players from the class included Bobby Wanzer, Harry Gallatin, Jack Coleman, Bill Gabor and Alex Hannum. Because surviving records do not establish a reliable overall selection order after the first round, later selections are listed by their documented round without speculative overall pick numbers.

Second BAA Draft: The 1948 draft was the second annual draft conducted by the Basketball Association of America. The BAA would hold one more draft in 1949 before merging with the National Basketball League and becoming the NBA.

Andy Tonkovich: Providence selected Marshall guard Andy Tonkovich with the first overall pick. Tonkovich played 17 games for the Steamrollers during the 1948-49 season, making his professional career much shorter than those of several players selected later in the draft.

Dolph Schayes: New York selected NYU star Dolph Schayes with the fourth overall pick. Schayes instead signed with the Syracuse Nationals of the rival NBL. Syracuse joined the NBA as part of the 1949 merger, and Schayes became one of the league's first superstars.

Bobby Wanzer: Rochester used the 10th overall selection on Bobby Wanzer. Wanzer had already played for the Royals in the NBL and remained with the franchise as it entered the BAA. He later helped Rochester win the 1951 NBA championship and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Harry Gallatin: New York selected Northeast Missouri State forward Harry Gallatin in the second round. Gallatin became one of the best rebounders of the NBA's early years, earned seven All-Star selections and led the league in rebounding in 1953-54.

Jack Coleman: Providence selected Louisville forward Jack Coleman in the third round. Coleman became an NBA All-Star and later won the 1951 NBA championship with the Rochester Royals.

Bill Gabor: Rochester selected Syracuse guard Bill Gabor in the second round. Gabor spent his entire NBA career with the Syracuse Nationals and was selected to the 1953 NBA All-Star Game.

Alex Hannum: Indianapolis selected USC's Alex Hannum in the fourth round. Hannum played eight seasons before becoming one of professional basketball's most successful coaches. He later coached championship teams in both the NBA and ABA.

Arnie Ferrin: Minneapolis selected Utah star Arnie Ferrin in the third round. Ferrin joined a powerful Lakers roster and won professional championships with Minneapolis during the franchise's early dynasty.

Four NBL teams join the BAA: Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Minneapolis and Rochester moved from the rival National Basketball League to the BAA around the time of the draft. Their arrival helped set the stage for the larger BAA-NBL merger one year later.

Minneapolis Lakers: The Lakers entered the BAA already possessing George Mikan, Jim Pollard and other stars from their NBL championship team. Their arrival immediately changed the balance of power in the BAA.

Rochester Royals: Like Minneapolis, Rochester entered the BAA as an established NBL power. Bobby Wanzer had already played for the Royals before being formally selected by the franchise in the BAA draft.

Murray Wier: Fort Wayne selected Iowa guard Murray Wier in the fifth round. Wier had been the NCAA's leading scorer at Iowa, but his professional rights became part of the complicated rivalry between the BAA and NBL.

Long draft: The 1948 draft lasted 15 rounds, although teams gradually stopped making selections. By the 12th round, Baltimore was the only franchise still selecting players.

113 recorded selections: Historical research has identified 113 selections from the draft. Only the first-round overall order is consistently preserved in contemporary draft records, so NBAHoopsOnline does not assign speculative overall pick numbers to later selections.

Final selection: Baltimore made the last recorded selection, choosing Moravian's Paul Marcincin in the 15th round.