Who is the greatest ever LSU player that you were able to watch live for a season or a career? I have been to a lot of games during the careers of players like Bert Jones, Rohan Davey, JaMarcus Russell, Charlie Alexander, Dalton Hilliard, Kevin Faulk, Tommy Hodson, Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Jackson, Brandon Larson, Ben McDonald, Rudy Macklin, Howard Carter, Greg Cook, Aaron Hill, Ryan Theriot, and too many other great players in football, basketball and badeball to mention them all. For me one player stands above all the other great ones. Pete Maravich. I was fortunate to be able to attend every single hone game during Pete's playing career at LSU. He set records for season and career scoring that most likely will never even be challenged, much less broken eter Press Maravich (June 22, 1947 – January 5, 1988), nicknamed "Pistol Pete", was an American basketball player. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Maravich starred in college at Louisiana State University (LSU) and for three NBA teams. He is still the all-time leading NCAA Division I scorer with 3,667 points scored and an average of 44.2 points per game.[1] He accomplished this without the benefit of a three-point line and despite the fact that NCAA rules prohibited him from playing on the varsity team as a freshman. Years later former LSU head basketball coach Dale Brown charted every college game Maravich played, taking into consideration all shots he took. The coach calculated that at the NCAA rule of a three-point line at 19-foot (5.8 m), 9-inches from the rim, Maravich would have averaged thirteen 3-point scores per game, which would have given the player a career average of 57 points per game.[2] Maravich died suddenly at age 40 as a consequence of a previously undetected congenital heart defect. His last words, spoken less than a minute before he was stricken and died in the arms of James Dobson, were "I feel great."[3] YouTube - Pistol Pete Maravich Top 10 plays YouTube - Pete Maravich Mix
:geaux: I think my vote goes to Tommy Casanova. RB, DB, punt returns, etc. He could do it all, and do it all better than most. Having said that, it's hard to argue that "Pistol Pete" isn't maybe #1. He was sure something, wasn't he. :LSU231:
Its too bad there was no cable or ESPN to show his highlights to the rest of the world back then. Its also a real shame that at the time LSU wasn't allowed to sign black players. The 1969 University of Houston team that stopped a 65 or 70 game winning streak of UCLA and Kareem Abdul Jabbar in the regular season and lost to UCLA in the Final Four had 4 starters who were from Louisiana. If Elvin Hayes from Rayville, LA and Don Chaney from Baton Rouge and the others had been Pete's teammates Pete wouldn't have scored 45 points a game but imagine how good the team would have been
Maravich. I went to many home games that Pete played in, the most memorable being the game that he broke Oscar Robertson's scoring record. Thanks to some very good friends, the Bueche family, my brother and I were able to attend that game. Pete still owns that record today. When you went to an LSU game, you just wanted to see what Pete would do that would blow your mind. Crazy passes, shots, fast breaks, dribbles. He was the most creative person I have ever seen with a basketball hands down.
pistol pete has my vote, hands down. he was years before his time and the greatest ball handler i've ever seen, bar none. must say though, he wasn't the greatest defender, which keeps him from being an all-around great player. As an offensive player he's had few peers.
I'll go with Pete. Never saw him play at LSU but was in the dome the night he dropped 68 points against the Knicks. I can't think of any athlete in any sport that I enjoyed watching more then Pete. He was amazing with the round ball in his hands.
Pistol Pete. No peer, nobody close 40 years later. I saw him with the Jazz rather than at LSU, but he was a real treat. In the pros he improved his defense, and he and Walt Frazier of the Knicks used to go at it, best offensive and defensive guards in the league. That was something to see.
