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Pete Maravich a Notable American Historical person.
Reason for choosing is my interest and knowledge about Pete Maravich in American History of sports. I can add to the article and help edit the existing article. The topic is covered significantly in several independent sources and can be verified. Several books on the topic have been written independently and can be verified as reliable sources.

Research source Pete Maravich; The authorized Biography of Pistol Pete Wayne Federman, Marshal Terrill, Tyndale House Publications, 2008.

 Week 4 editing contribution and added information to article .

Peter Press Maravich (June 22, 1947 – January 5, 1988), known by his nickname Pistol Pete, was an American professional basketball player. Maravich was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, and raised in the Carolinas. Maravich starred in college at Louisiana State University (LSU). He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He played for three NBA teams until injuries forced his retirement in 1980. He is the all-time leading NCAA Division I 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. One of the youngest players ever inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Maravich was cited by the Hall as "perhaps the greatest creative offensive talent in history". In an April 2010 interview, Hall of Fame player John Havlicek said that "the best ball-handler of all time was Pete Maravich". Pete Maravich was like a child prodigy and also driven by his passion for the game of basketball and his father. They called him Pistol Pete because of his shot from the side. Some have said that the proof of greatness in athletics is when the player can amaze us everyday and this is what Pete Maravich could do. Amaze everyone who watched him play with his ball handling skills like no other.Pete's dedication to improving his game was like no other. he would go to a movie and dribble in the aisle as he watched the movie. Pete Maravich struggled in his relationship with his father. His father was his coach and demanding of his son. Pete was said to have been worked vehemently by his father, Press Maravich.

Early life
Pete 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 former professional player-turned-coach. He showed him the fundamentals starting when he was seven years old. Obsessively, 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. 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. The Maravich family's subsequent move to Raleigh, North Carolina, allowed Pete to attend Needham B. Broughton High School. His high school years also saw the birth of his famous moniker. From his habit of shooting the ball from his side, as if he were holding a revolver, Maravich became known as "Pistol" Pete Maravich. He graduated from Needham B. Broughton High School in 1965 and then attended Edwards Military Institute, where he averaged 33 points per game. Pete was 6 feet 4 inches tall in high school and preparing for his college. His father took a coaching position coaching at Louisiana State University (LSU), Pete signed to play under his father, although he was not happy with the move because LSU was primarily a football school at the time.

College career
Later in life Maravich would tell friends he always desired to play basketball for West Virginia University and was originally ready to be a Mountaineer, but his father was the head coach for LSU Men's Basketball and offered him a spot at the school. At that time NCAA rules prohibited first-year students from playing at varsity level, which forced 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.

Maravich at LSU in 1967

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. For his collegiate career, the 6'5" (1.96 m) 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:


 * First, because of the NCAA rules that prohibited him from taking part in varsity competition during his first year as a student, Maravich was prevented from adding to his career record for a full quarter of his time at LSU. During this first year, Maravich scored 741 points in freshman competition.
 * Second, Maravich played before the advent of the three-point line. This significant difference has raised speculation regarding just how much higher his records would be, given his long-range shooting ability and how such a component might have altered his play. Writing for ESPN.com, Bob Carter stated, "Though Maravich played before [...] the 3-point shot was established, he loved gunning from long range." It has been reported that former LSU coach Dale Brown charted every shot Maravich scored and concluded that, if his shots from three-point range had been counted as three points, Maravich's average would have totaled 57 points per game.
 * Third, the shot clock had also not yet been instituted in NCAA play during Maravich's college career. (A time limit on ball possession speeds up play, mandates an additional number of field goal attempts, eliminates stalling, and increases the number of possessions throughout the game, all resulting in higher overall scoring.)

More than 40 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. Pete Maravich finished his college career in the 1970 National Invitation Tournament, where LSU finished fourth.

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