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Thirty-five years ago in 1970, "Pistol" Pete Maravich played his final game for LSU. It's been nearly half that time since he passed away, doing what else but playing basketball in a pick-up game at a gym in the Church of the Nazarene in Pasadena, California. Thirty-five years have passed since the "Pistol" blew away opponents and spectators alike with his nearly supernatural ball-handling skills inside the John M. Parker Agricultural Coliseum. In that time, his legend has continued to grow, and those tall-tale stories of his on-court exploits continue to become unbelievably realistic as subsequent generations witness footage of Maravich passing the ball blindly through his legs or behind his back while gliding through the air for seemingly endless stretches of time. While he is remembered for the legacy he left—not just at LSU, but on the game of basketball itself—his life story reads like that of a Greek tragedy. The only difference is, the story of Pete Maravich has a bittersweet, rather than tragic, ending thanks to a dedication to something other than basketball. The Making of a Legend
The story, and there are hundreds, goes that Press once had his son dribble a basketball out of the side of the car, saying, "let's see if you really can control that thing." Pete Maravich would later admit that he was "dedicated, possessed, and obsessed" by basketball. He would dribble 2 1/2 miles to the playground in his hometown of Clemson, South Carolina, and then dribble that same distance back. He would dribble on his bicycle and in lightning storms. Once a reporter asked a 12-year-old Maravich what he wanted to do with his life. He replied, "play pro basketball, get a big diamond ring, and make a million dollars." His quest for fame and fortune had begun, but the journey would be far from what he dreamed and would be frought with personal struggles. 1966-1970: Maravich's Life as Tiger
In those days, freshman players didn't play with the varsity squad. So, after Maravich put up 50 points, 11 assists, and 11 rebounds on Southeastern Louisiana College, 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. "Guys tried to figure out what he was going to do by watching his belt buckle, but it didn't do any good with Pete," said Johnny Carr, a former teammate of Maravich's, in a 1988 interview. "When he would make a move. . .he was so fast you couldn't do anything with him. You would think you had him, but he would just go by you and laugh." In his three years on the varsity team at LSU, Maravich scored 3,667 points in 83 game—an average of 44.2 points per game, and the all-time National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) record. He set 11 NCAA and 34 Southeastern Conference basketball records, as well as every LSU record in points scored, scoring average, field goals attempted and made, and free throws attempted and made. Maravich still holds many of these records, more than 35 years later. One other item of note, those 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 in Maravich's era. That last fact makes his three 60-point games in his senior season alone, that much more remarkable. "He was a magician," former LSU athletic director Joe Dean once said of Maravich, "and he dedicated himself. That's exactly what he wanted to do, and he was great at it." Maravich shined on the court, but the team's performance was far from stellar. During those three years with Maravich's raw talent and showmanship on the varsity team, the Tigers' posted a humble 49-35 record. Any chance of a collegiate national championship had eluded him. Off the court, Maravich's reputation was steering away from one of a disciplined athlete and more toward that of a rock star, plagued by alcohol addiction. Going Pro
He continued to succeed at the professional level, though not quite at the height he reached at LSU. He was a five-time NBA All-Star, he averaged 24.2 points per game for his career, and he led the league in scoring with 31.1 points per game in 1977—the same year he scored 68 against the New York Knicks. Much like his days at LSU, Maravich's team performances were lackluster. Any post-season action was limited, and time and time again, the championship ring was out of his grasp. Falling from Fame By the time he left basketball in 1980, Maravich had become a recluse. He once told an interviewer that he "used to laugh inside at the fame I had in the 1960s and the wealth, and the way people idolized Pistol Pete. I wasn't ever a role model. Never. None at all. Zero." Through it all, Maravich said he was searching "for life." He tried yoga and Hinduism, something he called UF-ology, vegetarianism, living on only fruits, and finally, macrobiotics. "My life," Maravich once said, "had no meaning at all. With everything I tried, I found only brief interludes of satisfaction. It was like what my whole life had been about, my whole basketball career, all of it. I found brief interludes of ego satisfaction. The Awakening of a Role Model
That was part of the talk he delivered in 1982 as he shared his own religious awakening. Feeling as though he had reached his lowest, Maravich finally found peace in Christianity. He became a lay preacher and traveled to churches and basketball camps to relate his story to young children and others willing to listen. His message was simple, the man he had become in his late 30s was far more important than the alcoholic basketball player he had been. After cutting ties with the University following his final season, Maravich returned to campus to share his thoughts with the members of LSU's basketball squad in the latter part of the '80s, becoming close—and fittingly enough, a role model—to a new generation. Soon after, on January 5, 1988, Maravich died at the age of 40 of a heart attack during a game of basketball. To many, he was the "Pistol." To himself, he had become something much better and easier to accept. "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." Later that year, then Governor Buddy Roemer signed into law a bill renaming the LSU Assembly Center the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Ironically, Maravich never played a game in that building during his college career. Then again, as the stories go, he was bigger than any building. He was, for better or worse, the "Pistol." Contact Josh Duplechain | LSU
University Relations Related Links LSU Men's Basketball |
Shoot Out the Moon: More to Pete Maravich than the "Pistol" 
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. 
After graduating LSU in 1970, Maravich was the third player drafted into the National Basketball League (NBA) and made league history when he signed a $1.9 million contract—one of the highest salaries at the time—with the Atlanta Hawks. He remained with the Hawks for four seasons before playing for the New Orleans/Utah Jazz and finally, the Boston Celtics. 
"There is nothing wrong with dedication and goals, but if you focus on yourself, all the lights fade away and you become a fleeting moment in life. I lived my life one way for 35 years, for me. And then the focus came in on what I really was." 
