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Forward/Center · 1979–83

Ben Poquette

Central Michigan sent him to Detroit as a 1977 second-round pick, but his best basketball came after the Jazz landed in Salt Lake City. Undersized for a center at 6-foot-9, Poquette held down the middle for a roster that had traded away its big men, setting franchise records for career blocks (517) and blocks in a season (174 in 1980–81) — a year he also led the NBA in personal fouls.

He averaged 9.0 points and 6.6 rebounds across four Utah seasons, played for Cleveland from 1984 to 1987, and closed his career with a stop in Chicago.

HOW HE CAME & WENTDetroit's second-round pick in 1977 came to Utah in 1979, the franchise's first season in Salt Lake City, and stayed four years.

Full name
Benedict Jay Poquette
Utah Jazz tenure
1979–83
Position
Forward/Center
Born
1955, Ypsilanti, Michigan
Height
6′9″ (206 cm)
Weight
236 lb (107 kg)
College
Central Michigan
Drafted
1977, 2nd round, Detroit
Signatures in the archive
  • 1981-82 Topps #105 1a07
  • 1979-80 Utah Jazz Team-Signed Posterboard 11x14
  • 1980-81 Utah Jazz Team-Signed Poster 8x10.5

No photograph of this signature is online yet.

With the Jazz

BEN POQUETTE · 1979–83 · PER GAME
SEASONTEAMGMPGPPGRPGAPGSPGBPGFG%3P%FT%
1979–80UTA8228.68.96.81.60.52.0.523.000.832
1980–81UTA8234.29.57.72.00.82.1.528.500.778
1981–82UTA8220.76.65.01.10.60.8.514.300.808
1982–83UTA7531.111.06.92.20.91.5.472.200.751
JAZZ TOTAL4 SEASONS32128.69.06.61.70.71.6.507.304.788

Season by season, regular season, with this franchise only. More info: Basketball-Reference ↗  ·  Wikipedia ↗

Did you know

BEN POQUETTE · 4 NOTES
  • Led the Jazz in blocked shots in the era just before Mark Eaton took over the role.
  • He also led the entire NBA in personal fouls in 1980–81 with 342 — an honor nobody campaigns for.
  • Around the league the mild-mannered big man was known simply as Gentle Ben.
  • Utah handed him the job of replacing the seven-foot Rich Kelley at center, three inches of height he simply did not have.