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Peter Press Maravich ( June 22 , 1947 – January 5 , 1988 ) was a Serb - American Basketball player known for his dazzling Ballhandling , incredible Shooting abilities, and creative Passing . He learned at a very young age fundamental basketball and ball handling drills from his father coach Press Maravich . He would follow his father and coach throughout the eastern and gulf seaboards as a young man before exploding onto the NBA in his own right. Also known as "Pistol Pete", he starred in college at Louisiana State University and for three NBA teams. Maravich is still the all-time leading NCAA scorer, averaging a staggering 44.2 points per game, without the benefit of a Three-point line and excluding the records of his freshman year due to the fact that when Pete was in his first year of college, the NCAA had separate freshmen and varsity basketball teams and freshmen were not allowed to play on the varsity team. It was calculated by Dale Brown that Maravich would have averaged 57 points per game with the benefit of a college Three-point line. EARLY LIFE Born of Serbian descent in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania , a suburb of Pittsburgh . Maravich amazed his family and friends with his basketball abilities from an early age. His father Press Maravich , a former professional player turned coach, showed Pete the fundamentals starting when Pete was seven years old. Pete would obsessively spend hours practicing ball control tricks, passes, head fakes, and long range shots. The elder Maravich required his son to make 100 shots from the free throw line in their driveway every night after dinner before he would be allowed to go to bed. Maravich claimed he often made 99 straight before deliberately missing the next several shots just so he could continue playing ball outside. Maravich's father claims that at the age of 11 the younger Maravich once succeeded in making 500 consecutive free throws one evening after school, stopping only when it became too dark to see the rim, illuminated only by the elder Maravich's flashlight. BASKETBALL CAREER High school Pete moved to , Maravich decided to attend Louisiana State University , and play for his father, Press Maravich, who was the school's new head basketball coach, hired in part because of his promise to deliver the younger Maravich to the school. Under his father's tutelage, Maravich would become known as "Pistol Pete." Maravich himself disliked the nickname because it implied, he said, that he was a "gunner," someone who would take ill-advised shots for the sole purpose of scoring points rather than aiding his team in its pursuit of victory. College When he took the court for his first freshman game at LSU , a large crowd turned out to see what all the fuss was about. In those days, freshman players did not play with the varsity squad. So, after Maravich put up 50 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists on Southeastern Louisiana College ,Federman, Wayne and Marshall,Terrill in collaboration with Jackie Maravich: ''MARAVICH'' page 68. Sport Classic Books, 2007. the crowd got up and went home, ignoring the varsity game. And so it would go the rest of the season, as LSU's freshman squad lost only one game, while the varsity team won only three. Noted for his mop of brown hair and floppy socks, Maravich scored more points in college than any other player in history. In only three years playing for his father Press Maravich at LSU, Maravich scored 3,667 points — 1,138 points in 1968 , 1,148 points in 1969 and 1,381 points in 1970 while averaging 43.8, 44.2 and 44.5 points per game. In the process, "Pistol Pete" set 11 NCAA and 34 Southeastern Conference records, as well as every LSU record in points scored, scoring average, field goals attempted and made, and free throws attempted and made, and assists. In his collegiate career, the 6' 5" (1.96 m) guard averaged an incredible 44.2 points per game in 83 contests and led the NCAA in scoring three times. He also set an NCAA record by scoring more than 50 points 28 times. He was named a three-time All-American and still holds many of these records, more than 35 years later. Notably, his 3,667 points don't factor in the 741 he scored his freshman year, or the fact that they played without a three-point line. Maravich was a three time first team All-American and was named The Sporting News ' player of the year in 1970 , and received the USBWA College Player Of The Year and Naismith Award as well. He scored a personal record of 69 points versus Alabama during a game that year, and garnered numerous other awards and college records. Maravich shone on the court and LSU slowly turned around a lackluster program. The year before he arrived, the varsity posted a 3-20 record. In Pete's senior season, LSU was 20-8 and participated in the NIT, where they were defeated by Marquette 101-79 in the semi-finals. Maravich was also a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon while at LSU. NBA After graduating from LSU in 1970, Maravich was the third selection in the first round of the 1.6 million contract — one of the highest salaries at the time — with the Atlanta Hawks . He wasted little time becoming a prime time player by averaging 23.2 points per game his rookie season. After spending four seasons in Atlanta, Maravich was traded to the New Orleans Jazz for 8 players, where he peaked as an NBA showman and superstar. He made the All-NBA First Team in 1976 and 1977 and the All-NBA Second Team in 1973 and 1978 . He led the NBA in scoring in 1976-1977 with 31.1 points per game. Prior to the 1979-80 Season , Maravich moved with the team to Utah . He was waived by the Jazz on January 18, 1980 and was quickly picked up by the Boston Celtics where he played the rest of the season alongside Larry Bird .http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595102509,00.html Maravich retired in the fall of 1980. In ten NBA seasons, Maravich, a five time NBA All-Star, scored 15,948 points in 658 games for a 24.2 points per game average (16th All Time). He led the league in scoring with 31.1 points per game in 1976-1977. His NBA single game high, a 68-point explosion while fouling out, came against the New York Knicks on February 25 , 1977 . LATER LIFE AND DEATH After a leg injury forced him to leave basketball in the fall of 1980, Maravich became a Recluse for two years. Through it all, Maravich said he was searching "for life." He tried the practices of Yoga and Hinduism , read Trappist monk Thomas Merton's '' The Seven Storey Mountain '', and took an interest in the field of Ufology , the study of unidentified flying objects. He also explored Vegetarianism and Macrobiotics . In 1982, he became a Christian and began traveling the country sharing his new found faith in Jesus Christ . A few years prior to his death, Maravich said, ''"I want to be remembered as a Christian, a person that serves Him to the utmost. Not as a basketball player."''Federman, Wayne and Marshall,Terrill in collaboration with Jackie Maravich: ''MARAVICH'' page 367. Sport Classic Books, 2007. On January 5, 1988, while warming up to play a pickup basketball game with a group that included Focus On The Family head James Dobson , he collapsed and died of a Heart Attack at the age of 40. An autopsy revealed the cause of death to be a rare congenital defect; he had been born with a missing Left Coronary Artery , a vessel which supplies blood to the muscle fibers of the heart. His Right Coronary Artery was grossly enlarged and had been compensating for the defect.http://www.pistolpete23.com/pete_bio.htm ''"He'll be remembered always"'', former LSU head basketball coach Dale Brown said on hearing the news of Maravich's death. ''"When we see some tousled-haired kid with drooping socks standing on some semi-darkened court or in a yard after everyone else has gone home, he will be shooting a basketball, and we will remember Pete."'' Years before his death, at the age of 25, Maravich told Pennsylvania reporter, Andy Nuzzo, ''"I don't want to play 10 years in the NBA and then die of a heart attack at 40."''Federman, Wayne and Marshall,Terrill in collaboration with Jackie Maravich: ''MARAVICH'' page 224. Sport Classic Books, 2007. Pete Maravich is buried at Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Mausoleum in Baton Rouge , Louisiana . LEGACY
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AWARDS AND RECORDS Collegiate
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