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YOUR BALANCE
Pistol Pete
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Pistol Pete


Jan 21, 2018, 8:59 AM

Wonder how close CU was to getting him to play here.

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Considering legendary NCSt. coach Everett Case hired


Jan 21, 2018, 9:14 AM

Clemson's head basketball coach--Press Maravich--to be an assistant coach on his staff for about $1,000 a year raise (as I remember)----about that close. Pete was going to play for his Dad wherever that was, and as it turned out, Press was hired away by LSU before he ever matriculated to State. Playing 4 years at a school about 80 miles from New Orleans had advantages that Pete explored as well.

My folks ran into Press several times when he was coaching at Campbell, and reported he always had a soft spot for small town Clemson.

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Also Pete never had the HS grades to play in the ACC


Jan 21, 2018, 9:19 AM

He was not going to get into Clemson or NC State.

The ACC had the"800 Rule" in effect at the time and the SEC did not.

LSU hired Press Maravich as a package deal with Pete.

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Re: Also Pete never had the HS grades to play in the ACC


Jan 21, 2018, 11:01 AM

Ate at a sports bar in Baton Rouge last year that had a his shoes (huge) it also had a Heisman Trophy. Pretty cool. Went on to see LSU stadium only thing I liked about it was the large placques for big wins

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I've been there....couldn't tell you the name, but I saw


Jan 23, 2018, 12:26 PM

Pete's shoes and Billy's trophy

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Re: Pistol Pete


Jan 21, 2018, 10:09 AM

Pete had a brother named Ronnie who was an excellent player. Some say he was better than Pete but I’m not sure about that. Ronnie played at Daniels in the early 60’s I believe. My memory is a little fuzzy and I can’t remember the exact year but my high school (Chapman)beats Ronnie’s team for the state championship around 60 - 61. I was told Ronnie was not able to attend college due to academic issues. Long,long time ago for me.

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Re: Pistol Pete


Jan 21, 2018, 10:42 AM

Ronnie was a good player but not nearly as talented as Pete. My recollection is that he attended and played at a small college or junior college in North Carolina for a year and then left.

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Re: Pistol Pete


Jan 21, 2018, 10:57 AM [ in reply to Re: Pistol Pete ]

I broadcast a lot of basketball games Ronnie played in at Daniel. He was an average player. Daniel was pretty good at the time.

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did have high enough grades,ACC was stiff then ,thats why


Jan 21, 2018, 10:25 AM

USUC got out

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He was actually from the Raleigh area, right?


Jan 21, 2018, 11:03 AM

He basically just followed his dad. Man, hope you don’t hang on to the Zion loss as long as you have the pistol going to the bayou!!!

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No ... he lived in Clemson longer than he lived in Raleigh.


Jan 21, 2018, 6:39 PM

He was a Clemson native who happened to become one of the greatest basketball players in history.

Press and Pete ended up in Raleigh because Frank Howard wouldn't give Press a raise. Three years later, they both ended up at LSU because the SEC would let Pete get into college.

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Frank Howard really did a lot to hurt our basketball program.


Jan 21, 2018, 6:42 PM

Loved the guy, but it’s a shame he wasn’t willing to prioritize basketball more than he did.

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"All those 'Fire Brownell' guys can kiss it." -Joseph Girard III

"Everybody needs to know that Coach Brownell is arguably the best coach to come through Clemson." -PJ Hall


Re: Frank Howard really did a lot to hurt our basketball program.


Jan 21, 2018, 6:46 PM

My understanding is that CU did not give out it full allotment of bball scholarships in the 60's. This was to save $ to give to football.

Don't know if this is true, but heard that Duke has not always given out all the possible scholarships for football.

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Re: Frank Howard really did a lot to hurt our basketball program.


Jan 21, 2018, 9:08 PM

That must have been after '65 then because Duke was nationally ranked most years prior to that going back to the 1930's.

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Re: Frank Howard really did a lot to hurt our basketball program.


Jan 23, 2018, 12:27 PM [ in reply to Frank Howard really did a lot to hurt our basketball program. ]

I've read that Howard didn't give Bobby Roberts enough funds to have phone in his office. Had to use one in the hall. Bet that impressed the recruits.

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the only good politician is a dead politician.


Re: Frank Howard really did a lot to hurt our basketball program.


Jan 23, 2018, 12:37 PM

Roberts' office was about the size of a closet, but I believe I remember a phone being in it

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Nothing about the Clemson program in the 60s was impressive


Jan 23, 2018, 5:36 PM [ in reply to Re: Frank Howard really did a lot to hurt our basketball program. ]

to recruits or anyone else.

We still managed to field some decent teams once in a while. The 1966 and 1967 squads were strong.

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Re: Pistol Pete


Jan 21, 2018, 7:39 PM

Pistol Pete lived one block up and around the corner from my former home. About six months before his untimely death he was in Clemson with his wife and two children. He was showing them around the old neighborhood. I was in the yard and when he saw me he stopped and we talked for about 45 minutes. He was asking about families who lived in the neighborhood when he was there. I told his children about their Dad bouncing a basketball every where he went, even in the old theater. He would sit on the aisle seat and bounce the ball during the movie. Most movie goers knew not to sit near him because they could not hear the movie. Pete had straightened out his life and credited his change to his wife. Was a real jolt when I heard he had died.

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Pistol Pete was my neighbor out on Highland dr., He idolized


Jan 21, 2018, 7:41 PM

his coach Father, and carried a basketball with him as soon as he could walk and was at all the games with Press, his Dad. Press was promoted to NC State, and Peter transferred from Daniel to Broughton. Then LSU hired his Father just to get Pete to go there.
He had an older Brother Ronnie, who was actually bigger and stronger that Pete, but rebelled against his Father and became a career Marine Sgt. working all the way up to Master Sgt. I believe. He became a big fan of Pete and went to as many of his games as he could.
I will never forget Pete as an eighth grader I think, playing at Daniel with much larger Jim Sutherland, who was an outstanding player also, and got a scholarship to Clemson, and was a top defensive guard teemng up with Mahaffey Bros. That was a good Clemson team. The young Mahaffey played in newly formed ABA, and had fairly good career I think. Sutherland turned down a pro contract to go to medical school.

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Great mid-'60s Tiger team


Jan 21, 2018, 8:40 PM

Sutherland, Mahaffey, Brennan, Crane, Ayoob


Made it to the ACC championship game

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They also beat UNC & NCState on back to back nights in


Jan 21, 2018, 9:30 PM [ in reply to Pistol Pete was my neighbor out on Highland dr., He idolized ]

the old North-South doubleheader that was played every year in Charlotte, back then. I remember it well, because I was there. Pretty sure Billy Cunningham was playing for UNC at the time. 1967, I think it was, and I was a junior in high school.

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I knew of Pete when he attended the old Calhoun-Clemson.


Jan 22, 2018, 12:02 AM [ in reply to Pistol Pete was my neighbor out on Highland dr., He idolized ]

My brother was a classmate. He invited me to watch "this kid" shoot basketball in the gym. I was astonished at his ball handling and accuracy even back then. A special talent.

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Re: Pistol Pete was my neighbor out on Highland dr., He idolized


Jan 23, 2018, 7:28 AM [ in reply to Pistol Pete was my neighbor out on Highland dr., He idolized ]

I had a friend attend the Clemson- Coastal Carolina basketball game on 12-12-1987. He came to work the next day and said " guess who I saw at the game last night?" he then handed me a ticket stub from the game with Pete's autograph. He signed it "Pistol Pete #7" and added a bible verse. My friend said "you are a basketball fan, you can have the autograph. Didn't think to much about it but less than a month later, Pete died of a heart attack on 1-5-1988. Still have the ticket stub and would venture to say that it is probably one of the last autographs Pete ever signed.
The reason Pete was there because his former teammate at LSU was coaching CCU at the time. His name was Russ Bergman I believe.

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Re: Pistol Pete


Jan 21, 2018, 9:49 PM

If there’d have been a three point line.... no one would have come close to his scoring records.....

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Re: Pistol Pete


Jan 22, 2018, 12:19 AM

I saw Pete play when he was on the Daniel JV team. At that time he was small of his age and didn't start really growing until later in high school is I remember correctly. Sutherland, Brennan, and Randy Mahaffey all played while I was at Clemson, along with Hank Chanel. We had a good team and I remember playing Duke to within a point or two in the old field house and beating UNC in the North/South Classic in Charlotte ..... in 1965, I think.

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Pretty sure that was '67, Randy's senior year, beat UNC &


Jan 23, 2018, 1:29 AM

NCState on consecutive nights in the old North-South doubleheader in Charlotte. Remember it well, because I was there, as a high school junior. I think Randy scored about 30 that night against UNCheat.

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So there!


Jan 23, 2018, 10:45 AM [ in reply to Re: Pistol Pete ]

We HAVE beat UNC at "their place", since that was definitely on their tobacco turf. Guess there's always exceptions to rules, statements, statistics. I feel better now.

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Re: Pistol Pete


Jan 23, 2018, 12:18 PM [ in reply to Re: Pistol Pete ]

Also beat NCSU in that event as well. Gerry Helms was another member of that team who played the backcourt with Sutherland. Was at the Duke game in Fike. They were number one or two in the polls coming into the game and had all americans Jack Marin, Mike Lewis and Bob Verga. I've never been in another place that was as loud as it was that night. Only problem with that Tiger team was little quality depth after the sixth guy. I think it was Bobby Roberts best team. I've read that Roberts wasn't provided money from the AD to have a phone in his office. Little wonder recruiting there was a chore with such meager support.

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the only good politician is a dead politician.


Re: Pistol Pete


Jan 23, 2018, 12:22 PM

I've enjoyed reading these accounts of The Pistol. A little nugget to throw on the pile.....I roomed with Pete one summer at Camp Wahoo, held at Miller School for Boys near Charlottesville, VA. Miller School was a boarding school for illegitimate boys. It was a great basketball camp at the time along with Campbell College in Buies Creek, NC. Coaches there at Camp Wahoo were Press Maravich, Bobby Roberts(Clemson), Bones McKinney(Wake Forest), Billy Mcann and Gene Corrigan(UVA)Weenie Miller (Washington and Lee). My favorite councelor was Pat Conroy(The Citadel) also Jerry West of the LA Lakers. By the way, no one could handle The Pistol!!

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