Honoring Pete Maravich – The Real Reason There Isn’t A Statue Already
When you think LSU basketball what name comes to mind? Is it Shaquille O'Neal? Dale Brown? Glen Davis? Chris Jackson who is now Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf? That's an impressive line up of basketball talent.
However there is one name that even all of these LSU greats would probably agree is the greatest player to ever play for the Tigers. His name " Pistol" Pete Maravich.
The legacy of Pete Maravich transcends generations. Officials at LSU would like to honor that legacy by erecting a statue of Pete outside the basketball complex that shares his last name. The reason they haven't erected a statue already? They can't.
Well they can't until the LSU Board of Supervisors amends a current rule that states in order for a person to be honored with a statue on campus, that person must have graduated from LSU. Pete Maravich did not graduate from LSU.
I think it’s sad, I think it’s a failure of a lot of different things over a long period of time and we got to this place. But that’s where we are and when we fail we have to try to fix it.
Those are the words of Scott Angelle. He is current board member and is currently on the state's Public Service Commission. Currently the "must be a graduate rule" is being debated by the LSU Board of Supervisors. They are considering changing the criterion from graduation to "completing at least 100 credit hours". If that change is put in place then Maravich would certainly qualify.
Pistol Pete does not deserve for this board to have voted him to have a statute because some would look at that as a favor. Pistol Pete earned this right.
That's what LSU Board of Supervisors member Stephen Perry told the Louisiana Radio Network. Mr.Perry is right. Maravich still holds the record for most point scored in Division One Men's NCAA basketball at 3,667. He also had an incredible average of 44.2 points per game. What makes this even more incredible is there was no 3-point shot during Maravich's tenure.