The

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

Rookie of the Year was an annual award given to the best rookie(s) of the regular season of the CBA. The award was given to players on their first CBA season and with no prior professional experience.

History

The award was established in 1957, when the league was operating under the name ''Eastern Professional Basketball League''. The first winner was Dick Gaines, from

Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesa ...

. In 1970 the league changed its name, becoming the ''Eastern Basketball Association''. In 1975–76, for the first time in CBA history, the award was shared by two players: Mo Rivers (from

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

) and

Walter Luckett Walter Luckett Jr. is an American former basketball player. Luckett starred at the prep level for Kolbe High School in his hometown of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and played college basketball for the Ohio Bobcats between 1972 and 1975. Following h ...

(from

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

). In 1977 a new award, the Newcomer of the Year, was created: while the Rookie of the Year was given to players on their first season with no experience in professional leagues, the Newcomer of the Year was given to players who already had professional experience. In 1996–97 the award was shared by

Bernard Hopkins Bernard Hopkins Jr. (born January 15, 1965) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2016. He is one of the most successful boxers of the past three decades, having held multiple world championships in two weight class ...

(from VCU) and

Jason Sasser Jason Jermane Sasser (born January 3, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player. He was a 6'7" (201 cm) 225 lb (102 kg) small forward who graduated Justin F. Kimball High School in Dallas, Texas, and played collegia ...

(from

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

): Sasser was also called up in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

by the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

. In 2001–02 Rookie of the Year Kenny Inge had started the 2001-02 season with

BC Žalgiris Basketball Club Žalgiris ( lt, Krepšinio klubas Žalgiris) is a professional basketball team that is based in Kaunas, Lithuania, and competes domestically in the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL, Lithuanian Basketball League). Founded in 1944, i ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

, and joined the

Rockford Lightning The Rockford Lightning was a basketball team that played in the Continental Basketball Association. They were based in Rockford, Illinois. History The Lightning were the oldest team in the CBA, originally existing as the Lancaster Red Roses fro ...

of the CBA on December 20, 2001. Only two players won the Rookie of the Year award and the

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

award during their career: Julius McCoy (Rookie of the Year in 1959, Player of the Year in 1966) and

Ken Wilburn Kenneth Eugene Wilburn (June 8, 1944 – October 6, 2016) was an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Central State Marauders from 1962 to 1966 and set a career scoring record. He led the team to an Nationa ...

(Rookie of the Year in 1967, Player of the Year in 1968 and 1974).

Key

Table

References

External links

EPBL/EBA/CBA Superlatives
{{Continental Basketball Association

New New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

American basketball trophies and awards Lists of basketball players in the United States