Pistol Pete

Pete Maravich is the single greatest college basketball player ever.

In the day of selfish players that are only in college because of an obnoxious obligation it is comforting to remember the likes of Pete Maravich.

Press Maravich, his father, was the head coach at Louisiana State University and offered his son a spot on the team. The elder Maravich was a former player who taught his son to play the game from a young age. According to his father, Pete once made 500 consecutive free-throws on the family drive-way basket and only stopped shooting because it became too dark to see the basket.

'Pistol Pete' is still the NCAA all-time scoring leader, despite not having the advantage of a 3-point line. Maravich scored 3,667 points in only three years in college because freshman were not allowed to play at the varsity level in the 1960's. Maravich scored 741 points while on the Tiger's freshman squad.

That averages out to 44.2 points per game.

A three-time All-American, Maravich helped bring prominence to an LSU squad that compiled a 3-20 record the year before his arrival. Maravich's play became known for its astounding finesse and trickery. Watching Maravich play was like watching the Harlem Globetrotters rolled into one white guy.

After graduating from LSU in 1970, he signed a $1.9 million contract (which actually meant something back then) with the Atlanta Hawks. His prominence was no less in his pro carrier as he was named to the All-NBA team twice and accumulated close to 16,000 points. In a ten year span, Maravich played with the Hawks, the New Orleans Jazz, and along side fellow caucasian Larry Bird on the Boston Celtics.

In 1988, Maravich dropped dead of a heart-attack while playing a pick-up game in a Pasadena, Calif. church. He was 40 years old, and odds are, his team was winning that pick-up game. His last words were, "I feel great."

The basketball center at LSU was named the Maravich Center shortly after his death. Also, the mascot of Oklahoma State University is created in his likeness.