Melvin Lowell Peterson (born March 23, 1938) is an American former

National Basketball Association 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 ...

(NBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA) player.

Collegiate career

Mel attended Wheaton College. While at Wheaton College, Mel was selected as a three-time All-American basketball player. He was also selected as the Most Outstanding Player of the 1957 NCAA Men's Division II basketball tournament, as Wheaton College won the inaugural NCAA Division II tournament. Mel finished his career at Wheaton College, averaging 22.7 points and 15.8 rebounds per game. He still ranks as Wheaton College's all-time leader in points per game, career points, field goals made, and career rebounds.

Professional career

Mel was drafted with the fourth pick in the 11th round of the

1960 NBA draft The 1960 NBA draft was the 14th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 11, 1960, before the 1960–61 season. In this draft, eight NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball pl ...

by the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

. On August 15, 1963, Mel signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Bullets. In two games with the Bullets, Mel recorded a total of two points and one rebound. Peterson did not play for the following three seasons. Mel made his ABA debut on October 13, 1967, for the Oakland Oaks.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, Mel 1938 births Living people American men's basketball players Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) players Basketball players at the 1963 Pan American Games Basketball players from Minnesota Detroit Pistons draft picks Los Angeles Stars players Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games Oakland Oaks players Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in basketball People from Thief River Falls, Minnesota Shooting guards Small forwards United States men's national basketball team players Wheaton Thunder men's basketball players Wilmington Blue Bombers players 1963 FIBA World Championship players