MARAVICH’S NCAA SCORING MARK ‘SEPARATE’ FROM CLARK’S HEROICS
LSU STAR SET RECORD WHILE PLAYING ONLY 83 COLLEGE GAMES AND BEFORE THREE-POINT LINE
LSU’S dome-roofed basketball stadium, the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, is named for a supremely crafty, skilled and mesmerizing player known since 1970 for scoring more career points than any man or woman in NCAA history.
That could change within days.
Those who played with, followed or knew the late Maravich sound conflicted about the inevitable moment — likely this Sunday — when “Pistol Pete” is supplanted by Iowa women’s basketball sensation Caitlin Clark atop the NCAA’S alltime scoring list.
“What Caitlin’s done has been amazing. She’s a fantastic player, great for the women’s game and basketball in general,” Maravich’s eldest son, Jaeson, told The Associated Press this week.
Clark’s on-court panache — she is a whirlwind and has piled up as many triple-doubles as she has highlight-reel shots — and even her appearance remind Jaeson of his Hall of Fame father.
“A lanky build and dark eyes,” he said. “And very fun to watch.”
He roots for her, but also will regard her career scoring total as “totally separate” from that of his father.
Clark is in her fourth season, and if she scores more than 17 points at home against Ohio State on Sunday, she will have surpassed Maravich’s 3,667 career points in 130 games.
In 1966, when Maravich arrived at LSU, where his father, Press Maravich, was the coach, freshmen were not permitted to play for the varsity squad. Maravich’s all-time scoring mark was set during just 83 games across three seasons from 1967-70 — and during an era when there was no shot clock, and no 3-point line.
Maravich averaged 44.2 points per game. He scored more than 60 in a game four times, topping out at 69 against Alabama on Feb. 7, 1970.
Former LSU coach Dale Brown noted that recordings of Maravich’s games make clear he routinely shot from beyond 20 feet. He and retired Baton Rouge-area sports writer Sam King concluded that Maravich would have averaged about 54 points per game had a 3-point line — adopted by the NCAA in 1986 — existed when he played. Maravich died in 1988 at the age of 40 after collapsing during a pickup basketball game.
“It bothers me a little bit,” Brown, who didn’t coach Maravich but knew him well, said of Clark inevitably surpassing Maravich on the scoring list.
Brown, whose college players at LSU included Shaquille O’neal and Mahmoud Abdul-rauf (then known as Chris Jackson), described Maravich as “beyond any imagination.”
“I’ve seen some great players, but I’ve never seen a better offensive player than him on any level,” Brown said. “I coached 44 years and there’s never been anyone like him.”
Maravich often was described as a magician with the ball, whether he was shooting, dribbling or passing. Some of his college highlights can be found online. He’d switch hands while hanging in the air to get off contested shots — and make them. He’d appear to be dribbling at full speed and suddenly pull-up for a jumper on the wing.
“I don’t know how he didn’t break his ankles,” said former LSU teammate Ralph Jukkola. “You’d sit there scratching your head, thinking, ‘How did he do that? I didn’t think you could do that with your body.’ ”
Like Clark, his passes were precise, whether he was flinging the ball the length of the court or whipping a no-look ball behind his back or between his legs.
“If he was looking straight at me, I didn’t have to worry about getting the basketball,” Jukkola said. “But he may turn, and the split second he turns, the ball may be there.”
And he recalled running the floor with Maravich thinking, “That poor defensive guy has no clue what’s going to happen.”
After Maravich joined the varsity team, home and road games were almost always packed, and even road crowds would give Maravich standing ovations after some of his circus shots or passes.
At six-foot-five, Maravich was relatively tall for a guard during his time. If a defender played close, he had the ball-handling skill and explosiveness to get around him, Jukkola said. If a defender backed off, Maravich could shoot over him.
During the 1996-97 basketball season, when the NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary by listing the 50 greatest players in its history, Maravich was included. His sons represented him at an event where players including Earvin (Magic) Johnson, Larry Bird and Isaiah Thomas told them their father inspired the creativity with which they played.
Johnson told them Pete “was the original Showtime.” Bird said Maravich handled the ball like someone performing yo-yo tricks. Thomas called Maravich the greatest showman in the NBA and most entertaining player he’d ever seen.