By Budd Bailey, Buffalo Sports Page Columnist
Mike Macaluso of the Braves
Taken in Round 6 in 1973
Other picks in that round: The basketball draft in 1973 had little resemblance to the selection process of today. For starters, it went 20 rounds – and the Braves took someone each time. Only two other players from that round reached the NBA, and both were in the rival American Basketball Association at the time. “Super John” Williamson was taken by Atlanta, but never played for the Hawks. He was a great scorer with the Nets. Johnny Newmann was a future Brave, but it took until the 1976-77 season before he arrived here. Newmann was quite a scorer in college at Mississippi but never quite lived up to his billing in the pros.
The details: Macaluso was a good college player at Canisius. He averaged 15.8 points per game for his career, and had more than 600 career rebounds. It earned Mike a spot in the College’s Athletic Hall of Fame. Macaluso was one of the last guys off the bench for the Braves in 1973-74, only playing 112 minutes. That was it for him in the pros.
Other 88s: The only Bill or Sabre to go in the No. 88 spot is running back Doug Goodwin, a running back who played three games with the 1966 Bills.
(Follow Budd on Twitter @WDX2BB)
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