PBL Draft Concludes As Teams Plot Their Futures
LOS ANGELES (JULY 7th, 1979) - PBL executives met today at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena to plot the future courses of their respective teams, as the PBL Rookie Draft took place. One of most exciting events of the PBL calendar brings the promise of hope and a new direction for so many teams, most of which will end up as nothing more than pipe dreams and trampled plans for more than a few.
The New York Monarchs held the first pick, and as expected, selected University of Washington small forward Buddy Smith with that pick. Smith, 6-10, 240 lbs., averaged 21.6 points per game along with 10.1 rebounds in his last season of intercollegiate ball.
After rumors were floating that the Cleveland Hornets were in discussions with the Milburn Honkers revolving around the second pick, the Hornets ended up keeping the pick, and surprised many with their pick. The consensus for much of the offseason has been that the Hornets would select UCLA shooting guard Patrick Swan. But they instead went big, drafting high schooler Center Mac Jackson.
With the third pick, the Los Angeles Greyhounds then went for Swan.
Not able to make a trade to move up, the Honkers then selected SG Broderick Music out of Southern.
The rest of the Top 10 followed as:
5. Baltimore Barons - PG Edgar Maus, Binghampton
6. Seattle Sockeyes - PG Scott Mitchell, Michigan State
7. Buffalo Braves - SF Carl Peterson, Wichita State
8. Houston Marshalls - C Archie Cauthen, Oklahoma
9. Milwaukee Muskies - C Kenneth Zimmerman, Creighton
10. Detroit Falcons - PG Franklin Wilton, IPFW
We ended up deciding to go with whatever/whoever fell to us with the #4 pick. We selected Music, though we may not end up keeping him. We are in discussions with a couple teams on some options. But we also may decide just to keep him. We could certainly do much worse.