1990 NBA draft

Draft selections

Notable undrafted players

These players were not selected in the 1990 draft but played at least one game in the NBA.

Early entrants

College underclassmen

For the eighth year in a row and the twelfth time in thirteen years, no college underclassman would withdraw their entry into the NBA draft. Not only that, but this would be the fifth year in a row where a player that qualified for the status of a "college underclassman" would be playing professional basketball overseas, with former Grambling State University player Jesse Spinner going to Austria to play professionally for the Sefra Tyrolia. Including him, that expands the number of underclassmen for this year out to fourteen total players. Regardless, the following college basketball players successfully applied for early draft entrance.

• USA Kelvin Ardister – F, Idaho (junior)
• USA Herb Barthol – C, Cleveland State (junior)
• VEN Gabriel Estaba – F, South Alabama (junior)
• USA David Shon Henderson – G, Idaho (junior)
• VEN Carl Herrera – F, Houston (junior)
• USA Sean Higgins – F, Michigan (junior)
• USA Chris Jackson – G, LSU (sophomore)
• USA Marcus Liberty – F, Illinois (junior)
• USA Kenny Miller – F, Barton County CC (junior)
• USA Jerrod Mustaf – F, Maryland (sophomore)
• USA Dennis Scott – F, Georgia Tech (junior)
• SWE Per Stumer – F, Loyola Marymount (junior)
• USA Kenny Williams – F, Elizabeth City State (sophomore)

Other eligible players

This would be the fifth year in a row with at least one player that previously played in college entering the NBA draft as an underclassman, as well as the first year where a player didn't go out to either Italy or France to play overseas professionally first.

Invited attendees

The 1990 NBA draft is considered to be the thirteenth NBA draft to have utilized what's properly considered the "green room" experience for NBA prospects. The NBA's green room is a staging area where anticipated draftees often sit with their families and representatives, waiting for their names to be called on draft night. Often being positioned either in front of or to the side of the podium (in this case, being positioned within the nearby Jacob Javits Center), once a player heard his name, he would walk to the podium to shake hands and take promotional photos with the NBA commissioner. From there, the players often conducted interviews with various media outlets while backstage. From there, the players often conducted interviews with various media outlets while backstage. However, once the NBA draft started to air nationally on TV starting with the 1980 NBA draft, the green room evolved from players waiting to hear their name called and then shaking hands with these select players who were often called to the hotel to take promotional pictures with the NBA commissioner a day or two after the draft concluded to having players in real-time waiting to hear their names called up and then shaking hands with David Stern, the NBA's newest commissioner at the time. The NBA compiled its list of green room invites through collective voting by the NBA's team presidents and general managers alike, which in this year's case belonged to only what they believed were the top 17 prospects at the time. Despite the large amount of invites and them successfully avoiding any inviting prospects waiting into the second round (following the tragic passing of potential #1 pick Hank Gathers), some notable absences from this group include Tyrone Hill from Xavier University, Jayson Williams from St. John's University, future Hall of Famer Toni Kukoč, Antonio Davis from UTEP, and Cedric Ceballos from Cal State Fullerton. Even so, the following players were invited to attend this year's draft festivities live and in person.

• USA/EGY Alaa Abdelnaby – PF/C, Duke
• USA Dee Brown – SG, Jacksonville
• USA Willie Burton – SG, Minnesota
• USA Duane Causwell – C, Temple
• USA Derrick Coleman – PF/C, Syracuse
• USA Kendall Gill – SG, Illinois
• USA Chris Jackson – PG, LSU
• USA Alec Kessler – PF, Georgia
• USA Bo Kimble – SG, Loyola Marymount
• USA Travis Mays – PG, Texas
• USA Gary Payton – PG, Oregon State
• USA Rumeal Robinson – PG, Michigan
• USA Dwayne Schintzius – C, Florida
• USA Dennis Scott – SG/SF, Georgia Tech
• USA Lionel Simmons – SF, La Salle
• USA Felton Spencer – C, Louisville
• USA Loy Vaught – PF, Michigan

Notes

References

References

1. Bradley, Robert D.. (2013). "The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts". Scarecrow Press.
2. Magazine, Dime. (2007-10-04). "NBA Rumors - Trades - Free Agents - Basketball Olympics - Dime Magazine » Blog Archive » The H.O.F. Watch - Gary Payton". Dimemag.com.
3. (2006-05-11). "ESPN.com - NBA - DAILY DIME: SPECIAL EDITION10 greatest point guards ever". [[ESPN]].
4. Eddie Maisonet. (March 25, 2014). "Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf: Here, gone and quickly forgotten". SB⋆NATION.
5. (August 4, 2007). "1990 Underclassmen".
6. (December 16, 2012). "Jesse Spinner 1990 Underclassmen".
7. "1990 Green Room Invites - the Draft Review".
8. Maurer, Matthew. (2024-02-18). "Draft Broadcasts - The Draft Review".
9. "Green Room - The Draft Review".