Biography

“Press” Maravich instilled in his son, “Pistol” Pete Maravich, a love for the game of basketball that carried throughout his life.  Press, a naval aviator and former professional basketball player turned coach, began showing Pete the fundamentals of the game when Pete was seven years old.  Together, father and son devised creative and fun ways to help Pete master the fundamental skills needed to excel in basketball.  Named everything from around the world and the space clap to the scrambled egg and the flap jack, these drills improved Pete’s quickness and hand-eye coordination while strengthening his self-confidence.  The young basketball player was obsessive about improving his skills, spending hours upon hours practicing shooting, ball handling, dribbling, and passing in an old gym.  Press went to great lengths to keep the drills interesting for his son - even going so far as to drive his car at varying speeds while his aspiring son leaned out the passenger window, trying to control the ball he was dribbling!

Pete’s high-school basketball career did not begin well.  Being a short 5”2” tall, ninety pound eighth-grader shooting warm-ups with varsity boys who were five years older and ten to fourteen inches taller left him wide open for jeering and laughing comments from the crowd.  He tried to ignore the humiliation, determined to prove his skills on the court.  However, his debut game did not go well.  Once he passed the ball for the starting play, he rarely got to posses the ball again.  It was a terribly frustrating and disappointing first game for Pete, who had never before experienced being cold shouldered by his own team.  The next game seemed to be more of the same until the final few seconds.  As the clock ran out, there stood Pete, alone and unguarded.  Amazingly, the ball was passed to him.  As the buzzer sounded, “Pistol” Pete shot from the hip . . . the ball was up and through the hoop for the winning score!