Pete Maravich

Maravich was born to Petar "Press" Maravich (1915–1987) and Helen Gravor Maravich (1925–1974) in Aliquippa, a steel town in Beaver County in western Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh.

Maravich amazed his family and friends with his basketball abilities from an early age.

He enjoyed a close but demanding father-son relationship that motivated him toward achievement and fame in the sport.

Maravich's father was the son of Serbian immigrants and a professional player–turned-coach.

He showed his son the fundamentals starting when Pete was seven years old.

Obsessively, young Maravich spent hours practicing ball control tricks, passes, head fakes, and long-range shots.

Maravich played high school varsity ball at Daniel High School in Central, South Carolina, a year before being old enough to attend the school.

Peter Press Maravich (June 22, 1947 – January 5, 1988), known by his nickname Pistol Pete, was an American professional basketball player.

He starred in college at Louisiana State University's Tigers basketball team; his father, Press Maravich, was the team's head coach.

Maravich is the all-time leading NCAA Division I men's scorer with 3,667 points scored and an average of 44.2 points per game.

All of his accomplishments were achieved before the adoption of the three-point line and shot clock, and despite being unable to play varsity as a freshman under then-NCAA rules.

While at Daniel from 1961 to 1963, Maravich participated in the school's first-ever game against a team from an all-black school.

In 1963 his father departed from his position as head basketball coach at Clemson University and joined the coaching staff at North Carolina State University.

While living in Raleigh, North Carolina, Maravich attended Needham B. Broughton High School, where his famous moniker was born.

From his habit of shooting the ball from his side, as if holding a revolver, Maravich became known as "Pistol" Pete Maravich.

He graduated from Broughton in 1965 and then attended Edwards Military Institute, where he averaged 33 points per game.

It was known that Press Maravich was extremely protective of Maravich and would guard against any issue that might come up during his adolescence; Press threatened to shoot Maravich with a .45-caliber pistol if he drank or got into trouble.

Maravich was 6 feet 4 inches in high school and was getting ready to play in college when his father took a coaching position at Louisiana State University.

At that time NCAA rules prohibited first-year students from playing at varsity level, which required Maravich to play on the freshman team.

In his first game, Maravich put up 50 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists against Southeastern Louisiana College.

In only three years playing on the varsity team (and under his father's coaching) at LSU, Maravich scored 3,667 points—1,138 of those in 1967–68, 1,148 in 1968–69, and 1,381 in 1969–70—while averaging 43.8, 44.2, and 44.5 points per game, respectively.

For his collegiate career, the 6 ft guard averaged 44.2 points per game in 83 contests and led the NCAA in scoring for each of his three seasons.

Maravich's long-standing collegiate scoring record is particularly notable when three factors are taken into account:

On the other hand, the Southeastern Conference's universities remained almost entirely segregated during Maravich's time on the LSU basketball team, significantly reducing the talent pool against which Maravich's record was earned.

During this period, for example, Kentucky and Tennessee dominated SEC basketball, and their basketball teams remained all-white through the 1969-70 season.

More than 50 years later, however, many of his NCAA and LSU records still stand.

Maravich was a three-time All-American.

Though he never appeared in the NCAA tournament, Maravich played a key role in turning around a lackluster program that had posted a 3–20 record in the season prior to his arrival.

Maravich was selected by the Atlanta Hawks in the 1970 NBA draft, playing four seasons for the team.

He was traded to the New Orleans Jazz, then an expansion team, with whom he spent the majority of the rest of his career.

His final season was split between the Jazz and the Boston Celtics.

Maravich finished his college career in the 1970 National Invitation Tournament, where LSU finished fourth.

At this time, freshmen did not play on the varsity team and these stats do not count in the NCAA record books.

The Atlanta Hawks selected Maravich with the third pick in the first round of the 1970 NBA draft, where he played for coach Richie Guerin.

He was not a natural fit in Atlanta.

Injuries ultimately forced Maravich's retirement in 1980 following a 10-year professional basketball career.

He was named an All-Star five times and was named to four All-NBA Teams during his professional career.

One of the youngest players ever inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Maravich was considered to be one of the greatest creative offensive talents ever and one of the best ball handlers of all time.

He died suddenly at age 40 during a pick-up game in 1988 as a consequence of an undetected heart defect.

Maravich was named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary team in 1996 and 75th Anniversary team in 2021.