1961 NBA Draft: all the picks, trades and information.
Information about the 1961 NBA Draft, including the first and second round, all the trades and players data.
Note: Between 1947 and 1965, before the start of the draft, the teams could forfeit their first-round pick to instead use a 'territorial pick' to select a player from their immediate area. This had the intention of building strong local fan bases.
Here you have all the picks from the 1961 NBA Draft. Total selections: 107
1961 NBA Draft
Round 1
| Pick |
Player |
NBA Team |
From (College) |
Pick Details |
| 1. |
Walt Bellamy |
Chicago Packers |
Indiana Univ. |
|
| 2. |
Tom Stith |
New York Knicks |
St. Bonaventure Univ. |
|
| 3. |
Larry Siegfried |
Cincinnati Royals |
Ohio State Univ. |
|
| 4. |
Ray Scott |
Detroit Pistons |
Univ. of Portland |
|
| 5. |
Wayne Yates |
Los Angeles Lakers |
Univ. of Memphis |
|
| 6. |
Ben Warley |
Syracuse Nationals |
Tennessee State Univ. |
|
| 7. |
Tom Meschery |
Philadelphia Warriors |
Saint Mary's College of California |
|
| 8. |
Cleo Hill |
St. Louis Hawks |
Winston-Salem State Univ. |
|
| 9. |
Gary Phillips |
Boston Celtics |
Univ. of Houston |
|
Round 2
| Pick |
Player |
NBA Team |
From (College) |
Pick Details |
| 10. |
Whitey Martin |
New York Knicks |
St. Bonaventure Univ. |
|
| 11. |
Bob Wiesenhahn |
Cincinnati Royals |
Univ. of Cincinnati |
|
| 12. |
Johnny Egan |
Detroit Pistons |
Providence College |
|
| 13. |
Fred Sawyer |
Los Angeles Lakers |
Univ. of Louisville |
|
| 14. |
Chris Smith |
Syracuse Nationals |
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ. |
|
| 15. |
Ted Luckenbill |
Philadelphia Warriors |
Univ. of Houston |
|
| 16. |
Ron Horn |
St. Louis Hawks |
Indiana Univ. |
|
| 17. |
Al Butler |
Boston Celtics |
Niagara Univ. |
|
| 18. |
Jack Turner |
Chicago Packers |
Univ. of Louisville |
|
| 19. |
Jerry Graves |
Chicago Packers |
Mississippi State Univ. |
|
| 20. |
York Larese |
Chicago Packers |
Univ. of North Carolina |
|
| 21. |
Don Kojis |
Chicago Packers |
Marquette Univ. |
|
| 22. |
Doug Moe |
Chicago Packers |
Univ. of North Carolina |
|
| 23. |
Jeff Cohen |
Chicago Packers |
College of William & Mary |
|
Round 3
| Pick |
Player |
NBA Team |
From (College) |
Pick Details |
| 24. |
Tony Jackson |
New York Knicks |
St. John's Univ. |
|
| 25. |
Bevo Nordmann |
Cincinnati Royals |
Saint Louis Univ. |
|
| 26. |
Doug Kistler |
Detroit Pistons |
Duke Univ. |
|
| 27. |
Frank Burgess |
Los Angeles Lakers |
Gonzaga Univ. |
|
| 28. |
Chuck Osborne |
Syracuse Nationals |
Western Kentucky Univ. |
|
| 29. |
Jack Egan |
Philadelphia Warriors |
Saint Joseph's Univ. |
|
| 30. |
Tom Chilton |
St. Louis Hawks |
East Tennessee State Univ. |
|
| 31. |
Bill Depp |
Boston Celtics |
Vanderbilt Univ. |
|
| 32. |
Bill Bridges |
Chicago Packers |
Univ. of Kansas |
|
Round 4
| Pick |
Player |
NBA Team |
From (College) |
Pick Details |
| 33. |
George Blaney |
New York Knicks |
College of the Holy Cross |
|
| 34. |
Lowery Kirk |
Cincinnati Royals |
Univ. of Memphis |
|
| 35. |
George Finley |
Detroit Pistons |
Tennessee State Univ. |
|
| 36. |
Charles Henke |
Los Angeles Lakers |
Univ. of Missouri |
|
| 37. |
Hank Whitney |
Syracuse Nationals |
Iowa State Univ. |
|
| 38. |
John Tidwell |
Philadelphia Warriors |
Univ. of Michigan |
|
| 39. |
Gus Guydon |
St. Louis Hawks |
Drake Univ. |
|
| 40. |
Carl Cole |
Boston Celtics |
Eastern Kentucky Univ. |
|
| 41. |
Roger Kaiser |
Chicago Packers |
Georgia Institute of Technology |
|
Round 5
| Pick |
Player |
NBA Team |
From (College) |
Pick Details |
| 42. |
Bill Smith |
New York Knicks |
Saint Peter's College |
|
| 43. |
Rossie Johnson |
Cincinnati Royals |
Tennessee State Univ. |
|
| 44. |
Danny Doyle |
Detroit Pistons |
Belmont Abbey College |
|
| 45. |
Bill Lickert |
Los Angeles Lakers |
Univ. of Kentucky |
|
| 46. |
Don Jacobson |
Syracuse Nationals |
South Dakota State Univ. |
|
| 47. |
Bruce Spraggins |
Philadelphia Warriors |
Virginia Union Univ. |
|
| 48. |
John Berberich |
St. Louis Hawks |
Univ. of California, Los Angeles |
|
| 49. |
Bob DiStefano |
Boston Celtics |
North Carolina State Univ. |
|
| 50. |
Howie Carl |
Chicago Packers |
DePaul Univ. |
|
Round 6
| Pick |
Player |
NBA Team |
From (College) |
Pick Details |
| 51. |
Cleveland Buckner |
New York Knicks |
Jackson State Univ. |
|
| 52. |
Bob Slobodnik |
Cincinnati Royals |
Duquesne Univ. |
|
| 53. |
Lee Patrone |
Detroit Pistons |
West Virginia Univ. |
|
| 54. |
Bill McClintock |
Los Angeles Lakers |
Univ. of California |
|
| 55. |
Billy Joe Price |
Syracuse Nationals |
New Mexico State Univ. |
|
| 56. |
Dick Goldberg |
Philadelphia Warriors |
Univ. of Southern Mississippi |
|
| 57. |
Bob McDonald |
St. Louis Hawks |
Univ. of Maryland |
|
| 58. |
Ned Twyman |
Boston Celtics |
Duquesne Univ. |
|
| 59. |
Dave Voss |
Chicago Packers |
Univ. of Tulsa |
|
Round 7
| Pick |
Player |
NBA Team |
From (College) |
Pick Details |
| 60. |
Donnie Butcher |
New York Knicks |
Pikeville College |
|
| 61. |
Dave Zeller |
Cincinnati Royals |
Miami Univ. |
|
| 62. |
Burt Price |
Detroit Pistons |
Wittenberg Univ. |
|
| 63. |
Albert Alamanza |
Los Angeles Lakers |
Univ. of Texas at Austin |
|
| 64. |
Roger Newman |
Syracuse Nationals |
Univ. of Kentucky |
|
| 65. |
Charles McNeil |
Philadelphia Warriors |
Univ. of Maryland |
|
| 66. |
Charles Riley |
St. Louis Hawks |
Winston-Salem State Univ. |
|
| 67. |
Mel Klein |
Boston Celtics |
Northern State Univ. |
|
| 68. |
Ron Heller |
Chicago Packers |
Wichita State Univ. |
|
Round 8
| Pick |
Player |
NBA Team |
From (College) |
Pick Details |
| 69. |
Cedrick Price |
New York Knicks |
Kansas State Univ. |
|
| 70. |
Jerry Thelen |
Cincinnati Royals |
Thomas More College |
|
| 71. |
Walter Ward |
Detroit Pistons |
Hampton Univ. |
|
| 72. |
Bill Ellis |
Los Angeles Lakers |
Univ. of California, Los Angeles |
|
| 73. |
Dave Mills |
Syracuse Nationals |
Seattle Univ. |
|
| 74. |
Larry Swift |
Philadelphia Warriors |
Truman State Univ. |
|
| 75. |
Gene Velloff |
St. Louis Hawks |
Doane College |
|
| 76. |
John Wessels |
Chicago Packers |
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
|
Round 9
| Pick |
Player |
NBA Team |
From (College) |
Pick Details |
| 77. |
Charles Bowman |
New York Knicks |
Wabash College |
|
| 78. |
Larry Krueger |
Cincinnati Royals |
Ohio Univ. |
|
| 79. |
Peter Baltic |
Detroit Pistons |
Pennsylvania State Univ. |
|
| 80. |
Carl Anderson |
Los Angeles Lakers |
Oregon State Univ. |
|
| 81. |
Rex Tippitt |
Syracuse Nationals |
Grambling State Univ. |
|
| 82. |
Herbert Gray |
St. Louis Hawks |
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State Univ. |
|
| 83. |
Steve Strange |
Chicago Packers |
Southern Methodist Univ. |
|
Round 10
| Pick |
Player |
NBA Team |
From (College) |
Pick Details |
| 84. |
Ron Debillous |
New York Knicks |
Univ. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee |
|
| 85. |
Jack Waters |
Cincinnati Royals |
Univ. of Mississippi |
|
| 86. |
Wayne Monson |
Detroit Pistons |
Northern Michigan Univ. |
|
| 87. |
Robert Williams |
Los Angeles Lakers |
Allan Hancock College |
|
| 88. |
Pete Chudy |
Syracuse Nationals |
Syracuse Univ. |
|
| 89. |
Leo Hill |
Philadelphia Warriors |
Univ. of California, Los Angeles |
|
| 90. |
Tom Faszholz |
St. Louis Hawks |
- |
|
| 91. |
Larry Comley |
Chicago Packers |
Kansas State Univ. |
|
Round 11
| Pick |
Player |
NBA Team |
From (College) |
Pick Details |
| 92. |
Kevin Loughery |
New York Knicks |
St. John's Univ. |
|
| 93. |
Carl Short |
Cincinnati Royals |
Newberry College |
|
| 94. |
Richard Kraft |
Detroit Pistons |
State Univ. of New York at Brockport |
|
| 95. |
Howard Hunt |
Los Angeles Lakers |
Duke Univ. |
|
| 96. |
Dick Sammons |
Syracuse Nationals |
LeMoyne College |
|
| 97. |
Corky Whitrow |
Philadelphia Warriors |
Georgetown College |
|
| 98. |
Dick Kepley |
St. Louis Hawks |
Univ. of North Carolina |
|
Round 12
| Pick |
Player |
NBA Team |
From (College) |
Pick Details |
| 99. |
Earl Shultz |
New York Knicks |
Univ. of California |
|
| 100. |
George Patterson |
Cincinnati Royals |
Univ. of Toledo |
|
| 101. |
Jackie Crawford |
St. Louis Hawks |
Centenary College of Louisiana |
|
Round 13
| Pick |
Player |
NBA Team |
From (College) |
Pick Details |
| 102. |
Ned Jennings |
New York Knicks |
Univ. of Kentucky |
|
| 103. |
Clair McRoberts |
Cincinnati Royals |
Monmouth Univ. |
|
| 104. |
Howard Stacy |
St. Louis Hawks |
Univ. of Louisville |
|
Round 14
| Pick |
Player |
NBA Team |
From (College) |
Pick Details |
| 105. |
Bill Engressor |
New York Knicks |
Louisiana State Univ. |
|
| 106. |
Carl Bouldin |
Cincinnati Royals |
Univ. of Cincinnati |
|
Round 15
| Pick |
Player |
NBA Team |
From (College) |
Pick Details |
| 107. |
Vince Kempton |
New York Knicks |
Saint Joseph's Univ. |
|
Total picks: 107