Press Maravich

Press Maravich
Sport(s) Basketball
Biographical details
Born (1915-08-29)August 29, 1915
Aliquippa, Pennsylvania
Died April 15, 1987(1987-04-15) (aged 71)
Covington, Louisiana
Playing career
1938–1941 Davis & Elkins
1945–1946 Youngstown Bears
1946–1947 Pittsburgh Ironmen
Position(s) Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1947–1949 Davis & Elkins (assistant)
1949–1950 West Virginia Wesleyan
1950–1952 Davis & Elkins
1952–1954 Aliquippa HS
1954–1956 Baldwin HS
1956–1962 Clemson
1962–1964 NC State (assistant)
1964–1966 NC State
1966–1972 LSU
1972–1975 Appalachian State
Head coaching record
Overall 232–277 (college)
Tournaments 1–1 (NCAA University Division)
2–2 (NIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
ACC Tournament (1965)

Petar "Press" Maravich (August 29, 1915 – April 15, 1987) was an American college and professional basketball coach. He received the nickname "Press" for always having gossip-styled updates in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, an industrial city outside of Pittsburgh where he was raised. Maravich, Sr. also served in the United States Naval Air Corps during World War II.[1][2]

Despite a long career as a coach, Maravich may best be remembered as "Pistol" Pete Maravich's father. Maravich graduated from Davis & Elkins College in 1941 and was a member of the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.

Playing and coaching career

Maravich was the son of Serbian immigrants. After college, he played professional basketball with the Youngstown Bears (1945–1946) of the National Basketball League, and the Pittsburgh Ironmen (1946–1947) of the Basketball Association of America.

Press Maravich's first head coaching job at the college level was West Virginia Wesleyan College, 1949–1950. From there he went on to become head coach of his alma mater, Davis & Elkins, from 1950 to 1952. He had previously served as an assistant under Red Brown from 1947 to 1949.

Maravich was head coach of the Tigers of Clemson University from 1956 to 1962. He then went to North Carolina State University to be an assistant coach under Everett Case. Maravich took over the head coaching duties when health problems, primarily cancer, forced Case to retire early in the 1964–1965 season. Maravich led the Wolfpack to the Atlantic Coast Conference title that season. Maravich left for Louisiana State University in April 1966 where he coached his son, Pete Maravich.[3] Upon offering the LSU scholarship to "Pistol", "Press" told his boy that "If you don't sign this ... don't ever come into my house again."{Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich}. Pete, originally wanted to go to the West Virginia University but finally agreed to go to LSU if his dad bought him a car. (Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich.) In spite of coaching his prolific son for half of his coaching career at LSU, Maravich had an overall losing record at the school. Maravich was replaced at LSU by Dale Brown in 1972. He then went on to coach the Mountaineers of Appalachian State, shepherding them through their early years in Division I, before retiring from coaching in 1975. Maravich returned to coaching in the early 1980s as associate head coach at Campbell University.

Death

In the spring of 1985, Maravich was diagnosed with prostate cancer. During a basketball clinic in Israel, signs of his condition appeared when he had begun to urinate blood. Due to son Pete Maravich's strong belief in holistic healing and herbal medication, proper cancer treatment was delayed for too long to have a significant effect. Press eventually was persuaded to receive proper treatment for his condition at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, but he canceled before being admitted. On February 11, 1987, Press and son Pete flew to Hanover, Germany, for an experimental treatment that lasted for 11 days; symptoms such as coughing subsided while the treatment had no effect on the cancer. Through the next two months, Press's condition deteriorated while Pete took constant care of him with his sister, Diana. Press Maravich lived his last days in Highland Park Hospital in Covington, Louisiana, where he died on April 15, 1987. "Press" Maravich lived just long enough to see Pete selected as a possible member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, but not long enough to see him officially inducted in May 1987. Pete Maravich is quoted as saying "I'll see you soon" to his father immediately after his death; Pete Maravich died nine months later on January 5, 1988. Both "Press" and his son became born-again Christians late in their lives.

BAA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played
 FG%  Field-goal percentage
 FT%  Free-throw percentage
 APG  Assists per game
 PPG  Points per game

Regular season

Year Team GP FG% FT% APG PPG
1946–47 Pittsburgh 51.272.517.14.6
Career 51.272.517.14.6

Head coaching record

College

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats (West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1949–1950)
1949–50 West Virginia Wesleyan 14–10
West Virginia Wesleyan: 14–10
Davis & Elkins Senators (West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1950–1952)
1950–51 Davis & Elkins 18–11
1951–52 Davis & Elkins 19–10
Davis & Elkins: 37–21
Clemson Tigers (Atlantic Coast Conference) (1956–1962)
1956–57 Clemson 7–173–11T–7th
1957–58 Clemson 8–164–106th
1958–59 Clemson 8–165–9T–6th
1959–60 Clemson 10–164–107th
1960–61 Clemson 10–165–96th
1961–62 Clemson 12–154–106th
Clemson: 55–9625–59
NC State Wolfpack (Atlantic Coast Conference) (1964–1966)
1964–65 NC State 20–410–4T–2ndNCAA University Division Regional Third Place
1965–66 NC State 18–99–52nd
NC State: 38–1319–9
LSU Tigers (Southeastern Conference) (1966–1972)
1966–67 LSU 3–231–1710th
1967–68 LSU 14–128–10T–6th
1968–69 LSU 13–137–11T–7th
1969–70 LSU 22–1013–52ndNIT Fourth Place
1970–71 LSU 14–1210–83rd
1971–72 LSU 10–166–12T–7th
LSU: 76–8645–63
Appalachian State Mountaineers (Southern Conference) (1972–1975)
1972–73 Appalachian State 6–203–87th
1973–74 Appalachian State 5–201–118th
1974–75 Appalachian State 1–110–5
Appalachian State: 12–514–24
Total:232–277

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Further reading

  • Federman, Wayne and Terrill, Marshall (2007). Maravich. SportClassic Books. ISBN 1-894963-52-0.
  • Gutman, Bill (1972). Pistol Pete Maravich: The making of a basketball superstar. Grosset & Dunlap. ISBN 0-448-01973-6.
  • Kriegel, Mark (2007). Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich. Free Press. ISBN 0-7432-8497-6.
  • Towle, Mike (2000). I Remember Pete Maravich. Nashville: Cumberland House. ISBN 1-58182-148-4.

References

  1. ↑ "Press Maravich". bcshof.org.
  2. ↑ "Press Maravich's Record vs. Kentucky". bigbluehistory.net.
  3. ↑ "LSU Fighting Tigers Coaches". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 2018-07-29.
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