Pistol Pete Maravich

Pete Maravich biography

The reason why I had to mention Pete Maravich in my blog is because his story inspired me to become a better basketball player.

If it wasn’t for his guidance with his Homework Basketball DVD drills, I don’t know where I would be today and that is the honest truth.

So, let’s learn about one of the greatest basketball players to ever play the game, Pistol Pete Maravich!

Born in Aliquippa, California, Press Maravich and his wife were proud parents. You could see in Pistol Pete’s movie that his parents was super proud of their son.

Press Maravich coached college basketball. Press enjoyed training and coaching kids. Pete Maravich was only two years old. Throughout the 50s, Pistol Pete thought, ate, and lived basketball.

Dribbling drills, shooting free throws,  and other shots occupied his daily life. Pete was definitely before his time, because the basketball drills that he used to exercise his skills were not of this world.

He performed basketball drills that kids were not even thinking about during that time period. The drills were so unbelievable, people thought Pete was weird.

These types of basketball drills challenged Pete and forced him to push pass all basketball limits that were established by performing basic basketball drills.

At times, Pete said he would play basketball for eight to eight and half hours a day. His defining skill though was the jump shot. I wish I would have done this; I would have been the next Nate Robinson.

I didn’t commit to working on my game all day, however, I did workout 2 hours every day, which resulted in professionally European contract. I do see a lot of young kids dreaming one day to make it to the NBA, but they don’t want to put the work in!

Everybody’s success is different. It is important to practice daily like daily like Pistol Pete. I’m not sure if it is possible to practice 8 hours, but if you want to be really good at the game of basketball, you have to put a lot of time in outside of playing for your local team.

Pete’s profound basketball expertise was revealed at an early age. In 8th grade he tried out and soon was a star for the secondary varsity team.

He was quite the dribbler but not powerful enough to master the jump shot like others managed to do. He would lift the ball from his hip like a Wild West gunslinger.

That motion eventually gave him a nickname. That very name would last a lifetime – “Pistol”. Which is why I have been calling him Pistol Pete through out this article! For the next five decades, Pete practiced every day no matter where his dad trained or coached.

In secondary school, Pete’s growth spurt happened. He shot up to 6’5″ tall. He was recruited by a ton of top colleges and universities. His dad took the position as head coach at LSU. Pistol Pete wanted to go play for West Virginia, but his dad told him if he didn’t play for him, that Pete could never step foot in his house again!

In the Sixties, freshman were prohibited to play at the varsity level in the NCAA. Therefore, Pistol Pete had to play on the JV team his first year.

In 1967, Pete made the leap to varsity as a sophomore and never took a look back. His LSU basketball stats are some of the best ever set by any collegiate basketball player.

For the next three decades, he averaged over 44 points a game. He still is the NCAA’s all-time significant scorer with 3,667 total points a full 40 years later.

Maravich performed in an age where there was no three-point line, it is approximated Maravich could have averaged somewhere between 55 to 57 points every game if the 3-point line existed.

Pistol Pete Maravich was chosen in third in the first official draft of the NBA. I read somewhere that Pete Maravich was one of Michael Jordan’s favorite players and he took some of Pete’s moves and incorporated them in to his game.

If you haven’t seen The Pistol: The Birth of a Legend this is a must watch for young basketball players. Next, have your parents buy his homework basketball drills to get you started. These drills will definitely give you the vision you need for youth basketball.