Melvin Utley (January 2, 1953 – September 24, 2019) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. He emerged as a star while playing at

Far Rockaway High School Far Rockaway High School was a public high school in New York City, at 821 Bay 25th Street in Far Rockaway in the borough of Queens. It operated from 1897 to 2011. Its alumni include three Nobel Prize laureates and convicted fraudster Bernard M ...

in his hometown of

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...

, and earned all-city honors during his senior year in 1971. Utley played collegiately for the St. John's Redmen, whom he desired to play for due to the closeness of his family. In his three years with the Redmen, Utley led the team in scoring twice and was named team co-captain during his senior season. His 345 assists rank as the second-highest in program history by a three-year player. Utley was selected by the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

in the

1975 NBA draft The 1975 NBA draft was the 29th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 29, 1975, before the 1975–76 season. In this draft, 18 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players a ...

as the 33rd overall pick, which was the selection before his hometown

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

. He was the last player cut by the Cavaliers before the start of the

1975–76 NBA season The 1975–76 NBA season was the 30th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning the NBA Championship, beating the Phoenix Suns 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. Notable occurrences *Larry O'Br ...

. Utley wished to tryout for the Knicks but the Cavaliers refused to release his draft rights and he ultimately never played a game in the

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 S ...

(NBA). Instead, he played professionally in the

Eastern 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 ...

(EBA) for the Long Island Sounds,

Long Island Ducks The Long Island Ducks are an American professional minor-league baseball team based on Long Island in Central Islip, New York. The Ducks compete in the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), an independent "partne ...

and the Shore Bullets. Utley had an early retirement from playing basketball professionally at the urging of his mother, who insisted on him pursuing a different career as he was not making enough money. He ran a group home for 14 years that dealt with children in the court system and also worked as a substitute teacher in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

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College statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Utley, Mel 1953 births 2019 deaths American men's basketball players Cleveland Cavaliers draft picks Far Rockaway High School alumni Point guards Basketball players from Queens, New York St. John's Red Storm men's basketball players 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople