Pete Maravich Record Stands

[Grizzled_Jack]

Had to look up Theeler's college scoring record 21.5 ppg. Less than half of Maravich's.

[JackJD]

When I hear Pete Maravich's name, I think of droopy socks and lights-out shooting.

When Gene Zulk became head coach of the Jackrabbits in the fall of 1973 (following Jim Marking's unexpected retirement), Sam Milanovich, an assistant coach for the Jacks, became the top assistant under Zulk. Milanovich had been a highly-recruited player from Aliquippa, PA,, -- that was also Maravich's hometown. Milanovich first played at Boston University for a year but then transferred to Augustana in Sioux Falls.

Milanovich and Maravich were Serbian Americans and everyone claimed they were first cousins.* In addition to serving as an assistant coach in basketball, Milanovich also served as SDSU's head golf coach for a couple of years. I had heard that are was an excellent golfer. Both Maravich and Milanovich had short lives -- Maravich passed at age 40 (heart attack -- had a congenital defect -- missing a main heart artery which cause a different artery to work over time and it finallly failed. Milanovich passed away at age 49.(cancer).

Sam had a great personality. He was a very successful head coach, initially in the high school ranks and later at small colleges including Dickinson State in North Dakota.

Grizzled Jack mentioned watching Pistol Pete in person. It'd be off topic and I don't want to be accused of derailing a thread, but in reading this thread, I was reminded of the time I watched Indiana State playing a Missouri Valley conference game at Drake which then played home games at the old Vet's Memorial Coliseum in downtown Des Moines. I think the game was in 1978. Drake's center was 6-11 Chad Nelson, a former Yankton Buck. Indiana State had some fellow named Larry Bird on the roster. Bird was something to see in person.


* I was a sophomore at SDSU in 1973-74 and I had a job as the student assistant to the Sports Information Director, Dave Martin. I worked about 15-20 hours a week in the SID's office located in the HPER Center. I recall stopping by the basketball office and chatting with Sam. During the conversation, I asked Sam if he was Pistol Pete's cousin. He said "Yes" ... so I thought he was but I also wondered if Sam was just pulling my leg.