American basketball player
Benedict Jay Poquette (born May 7, 1955) is an American former basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, he graduated from East Lansing High School and Central Michigan University. He was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the second round (36th pick overall) of the 1977 NBA draft, and played for them from 1978–79. He also played for the Utah Jazz in 1980–83, the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1984–87, and the Chicago Bulls in 1987 (his last season in the NBA).
His best seasons in the league occurred while playing for the Utah Jazz. The Jazz franchise had just arrived in Salt Lake City in 1979 after five mostly unsuccessful seasons in New Orleans. The team was thin up front, having traded away top big men Rich Kelley, Spencer Haywood, Joe C. Meriweather, and Truck Robinson in the previous two seasons. Despite being relatively undersized at 6'9" and 235 pounds, Poquette was tasked with replacing the 7'0" Kelley at center. Poquette posted modest averages of 9.0 points and 6.6 rebounds per game in his four seasons with Jazz, but excelled at shot-blocking, setting franchise records for most blocks in a career (517 in 321 games) and single season (174 in 1980–81). Notably, Poquette also had the somewhat dubious distinction of leading the NBA in personal fouls during that 1980–81 season, with 342 total fouls committed.
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