
Canes in the NBA Draft: Bill Soens
With the 2013 NBA Draft on June 27, HurricaneSports.com will count down the days with features on each former UM player selected on draft day.
Bill Soens | 1968 | Philadelphia 76ers | 11th Round-145th overall |
![]() Soens played just two seasons for the Hurricanes after transferring from Villanova after one season with the Wildcats. Touted by Coach Ron Godfrey as having the potential to be the best center in UM history, Soens scored 860 points and pulled down 629 boards, leading the team in rebounds both seasons in Coral Gables. Upon the completion of his career, Soens was ranked fifth in Canes history with his season field goal mark of 50.6 percent in 1967. In his career, he recorded 20 20-point games for the Hurricanes and he currently ranks eighth in rebounds in a season with 330 in 1966-67. |
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Rusty Parker | 1968 | Atlanta Hawks | 5th Round-61st overall |
![]() In three seasons with the Hurricanes from 1965-68, Parker shot 51.6 percent from the field, which still ranks fourth in Miami’s record books. His 1,190 total points are in Miami’s top 25. In his first year with the Canes, he shot 55.1 percent from the field, the highest average at the time, then in his final campaign posted a 52.7 clip, then the third-best in school history. As a senior he posted 13 20+ games and five 30+ point games, which still rank sixth all-time. Parker pulled down 25 rebounds against Florida State in 1968, still the sixth-most by a Cane in a single game. Parker ended his career with 20 20+point games and earned a third-team selection to the Hurricane’s All-Time Team. |
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Mike Wittman | 1967 | St. Louis Hawks | 5th Round-49th overall |
![]() After graduating from Miami, he was drafted in both the NBA’s and ABA’s professional drafts. He opted to play for the Phillips 66ers and Akron Wingfoots in the National Industrial Basketball League, where he was a first team All-League in 1968. |
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Rick Barry | 1965 | San Francisco Warriors | 1st Round-2nd overall |
![]() Barry started his pro career with the San Francisco Warriors, who selected him in the first round of the 1965 NBA Draft. He scored 25.7 points per game (fourth in the league), made the All-Star Team, was named NBA Rookie of the Year and earned a berth on the All-NBA First Team. The Hall of Famer is the only player ever to lead the NCAA, NBA, and ABA in scoring. When he left the game, Barry was sixth on the NBA-ABA all-time scoring list with 25,279 points. At the time of his retirement, Barry’s .900 career free-throw percentage was the best in NBA history. Barry’s professional honors include: Elected to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (1987); NBA champion (1975); NBA Finals MVP (1975); All-NBA First Team (1966, ’67, ’74, ’75, ’76); All-NBA Second Team (1973); Rookie of the Year (1966); Eight-time All-Star; All-Star MVP (1967); One of 50 Greatest Players in NBA History (1996). |
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Mike McCoy | 1963 | Detroit Pistons | 3rd Round-21st overall |
![]() McCoy was a 7-footer who played for the Hurricanes from 1959-63, helping the Canes their first postseason games, a pair of NIT appearances in 1961 and 1963 and the first NCAA tournament appearance, in 1960. Following his career, he was the school’s third-leading scorer with 1,231 points and second-best rebounder with 857 caroms, earning him a first-team selection to the Hurricane’s All-Time Team. He notched 27 20-point games in his UM career, was UM’s leading scorer in 1961-62 and 1962-63, and led the team in rebounding in 1961-62. McCoy’s 19.8 points per game in 1963 were the school’s third-most at the time, and 554 points the same year were second-best in UM history. In 1963, McCoy scored 48 points against Rollins, the most ever tallied by a Hurricane to that point. |
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Dick Miani | 1956 | New York Knicks | Knicks’ 10th selection |
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