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Forward · 1980–81

Mel Bennett

Pittsburgh raised him, from Peabody High School to the University of Pittsburgh, and the pro game took him from the ABA's Virginia Squires in 1975-76 to the Indiana Pacers, the Utah Jazz in 1980-81, and finally the Cleveland Cavaliers, where his playing days ended in 1982.

His second act may be the most endearing in this checklist. Bennett works as an aide at Ocean City Intermediate School in New Jersey, where he hands out snacks as prizes for answering his trivia questions. In 2015 the students voted for him to dress like a turkey for Thanksgiving.

HOW HE CAME & WENTHe signed a 10-day contract on January 3, 1981, a second ten days later, then for the rest of the season. Utah waived him the following October.

Full name
Melvin P. Bennett
Utah Jazz tenure
1980–81
Position
Forward
Born
1955, Pittsburgh
Height
6′7″ (201 cm)
Weight
201 lb (91 kg)
College
Pittsburgh
Drafted
1975, ABA
Signatures in the archive
  • 1980-81 Utah Jazz Team-Signed Poster 8x10.5
  • 1980-81 Kansas City Kings Signed Team Picture 8x10

No photograph of this signature is online yet.

With the Jazz

MEL BENNETT · 1980–81 · PER GAME
SEASONTEAMGMPGPPGRPGAPGSPGBPGFG%3P%FT%
1980–81UTA2811.23.83.30.50.10.4.433.000.654
JAZZ TOTAL1 SEASON2811.23.83.30.50.10.4.433.000.654

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

Did you know

MEL BENNETT · 8 NOTES
  • Left college early to sign with the ABA, an unusual route in the mid-1970s.
  • Left Pittsburgh after a single freshman season and went straight to the ABA's Virginia Squires at 20.
  • Raised more than $1,300 for a New Jersey food bank in 2015 by wearing a turkey costume covered in over 3,000 feathers.
  • As a 20-year-old rookie he averaged 12.1 points and 7.0 rebounds in the ABA's final season before the league folded around him.
  • A surviving 1975 photograph shows him driving to the basket against Julius Erving during his Virginia Squires season.
  • An ABA fan archive celebrates his afro and admits it cannot work out why he wore glasses in some games but not others.
  • Worked his way back to the NBA through minor-league stops in Hawaii, Billings, Anchorage and Reno.
  • Wore No. 33 for the Jazz alongside Adrian Dantley and rookie Darrell Griffith in the team's second Salt Lake City season.