Dave Budd

David L. Budd (born October 28, 1938) is a retired American basketball player who played for the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association. He played college ball at Division I Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Early life Budd grew up in Woodbury, N.J. and attended Woodbury Junior-Senior High School. By sophomore year, it was evident that basketball was his true calling. Standing at and weighing close to , Budd was a very imposing player. He possessed technical skills comparable to a point guard and blossomed into a star. Throughout his high school career, Budd was mentored by Woodbury Junior High School teacher and assistant basketball coach Joe Colone. Colone was a former NBA player for the New York Knicks and could provide excellent coaching and tips to prepare Budd for playing collegiate (and later, professional) basketball. When he became an eligible sophomore during the 1957–58 season, he played in 23 games, averaging 15.8 points per game (ppg) on a 47.5 field goal percentage as a forward. He also grabbed 8.5 rebounds per game (rpg) and shot 66.8% from the charity stripe. He was also a tough but not dirty, player and got placed on probation for fighting, following the infamous Wake Forest-UNC brawl at Winston-Salem in 1959. Wake Forest's new all-purpose exercise facility, the Kenneth D. Miller Center (built in 2001), is home to a basketball gym on the third floor that is used as an extra practice court for both the men's and women's basketball teams. It is named the Dave Budd Gymnasium in his honor. For his career, Budd played in 75 contests and held career averages of 13.5 points & 9.1 rebounds per game as well as a 46.6 FG% and 69.2 FT%.

Achievements Second Team All-ACC as a sophomore (1958) and senior (1960). Named the team's Most Valuable Player following both his sophomore and junior campaigns. Voted team captain for sophomore season. As a senior, Budd led the Demon Deacons to the first of two consecutive ACC titles. Recorded 682 rebounds Scored 1,014 career points in just three seasons He was the 10th overall selection in the second round (at the time there were fewer teams in the league and each round only had eight selections). He was drafted the same year that Oscar Robertson and Jerry West were picked No. 1 and #2, respectively. Though never an All-Star, Budd did enjoy moderate success while playing at the highest level. One of his claims to fame was that he was one of the three centers for the Knicks that attempted to guard Wilt Chamberlain on the night of his record-setting 100-point performance. On that night, Budd was the only opponent who mustered a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in 27 minutes. Also on that same night, Budd was the only other player in the game to collect a double digit number of rebounds (Chamberlain had 25). Budd is the only person from Woodbury, NJ to ever play in the NBA, and wore No. 10 as his jersey number.

Achievements Ranked 6th in the league in field goal percentage (.493) during the 1962–63 season. Ranked 9th in the league in true shooting percentage (.540) during the 1962–63 season.

Career statistics

NBA Source

Regular season