Comments on: NBA Draft Picks by School (1949-2008)

By: nvr1983

nvr1983 — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:52:09 +0000

Gregg–
It looks like they were listed as high school players in the document. Players are listed by the last place they played before they were drafted. This explains why Wilt Chamberlain is listed as having played for the Harlem Globetrotters instead of Kansas while Danny Ferry is listed as having played for Duke and not Il Messaggero (now Virtus Roma), his Italian league team.

By: Mike White

Mike White — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:48:36 +0000

Very good stuff here. As for the talent/championship ratio at Carolina, I can’t explain it. Some have theorized that UCLA has done better principally due to the fact that they are the only dominant team on the west coast, and consistently has the easiest travel schedule in the west bracket. Other than that though…UNC should have more than 4 champion ships.

…but we’ll take what we have. I think just about anyone would.

By: Gregg Ellis

Gregg Ellis — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:42:03 +0000

Does this list include players that signed with a scholarship with a university but went into the draft right after high school?

By: rtmsf

rtmsf — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 05:15:55 +0000

Really nice catch. We changed the original spreadsheets to correct that error, although it was Arkansas.

By: arizownsya

arizownsya — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 03:52:57 +0000

I think Oliver Miller is missplaced under Arizona when he really played at Arkansas State?

By: Brooke

Brooke — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 01:05:54 +0000

I would like to see which school turns out the most quality NBA players, perhaps this means in terms of averages in points, rebounds, assists and/or other salient metrics. My guess is that UNC and Arizona would top that list if the data were cut since 1990 or so.

By: rtmsf

rtmsf — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 23:05:48 +0000

Whit:

This came up last year too with how you handle players who left school but then went somewhere else in the interim. You have to draw a line somewhere, so we consider someone to be drafted from the last place he played organized basketball or went to college.

In Hightower’s case, that would be Spain, therefore he fell under the (Spain) column, resulting in the 7th overall pick in the 1962 draft.

Re: Wilt, he spent the 58-59 season playing for the Harlem Globetrotters, and that’s where he is on the column if you look carefully.

I certainly wouldn’t have any qualms if someone wants to count both of these players as KU draftees, but the reason we did not is because there are so many exceptions when you start trying to parse out each individual situation. By doing it the way we did, we feel that this was the cleanest way to handle the data.

Regards.
RTC

By: rtmsf

rtmsf — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:54:23 +0000

Fair point, although the Big Dog was a 20/6 career guy in the NBA and two-time all-star. JBC was an 18/8 guy over 10 seasons with 1 AS appearance.

Lucas was a 10/7 guy with a drug problem and Joe Smith (12/7) is mostly infamous for the tampering problem that led to the destruction of the Twolves franchise. Neither player ever made a single AS game.

So yeah, none of the four were worthy of a #1 overall pick, but I’d still say the two Terps had worse NBA careers.

By: Whit

Whit — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:53:59 +0000

Thanks for making your spreadsheets available. Why do you not list Wayne Hightower (drafted 7th overall in 1962) for Kansas? Is it because he left KU early in 1961 (played in Spain for 1 year)? Likewise, why not list Wilt Chamberlain for Kansas? There are other players listed for Kansas (as well as other schools) in your spreadsheet that left school early.

By: Erkki

Erkki — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:06:47 +0000

Wouldn’t Purdue be the most underwhelming multiple-#1 pick school? They had Joe Barry Carroll (aka Joe Barely Cares) in 1980 and Glenn Robinson in 1994. At least Maryland won a National Championship.