USD Men's Basketball 1996-1997

LONG DISTANCE LEGENDS IEfORE 1IE ADV9fl' Of 11E 1HREE-POiNJ SHOT, PE1E MARAVIOt AN> O&Yl Ml.la'S IONG-DISTANa COllltffCll()NS HEIJIED REVOWIIONZE 1IE GAME.

AT&T

work the basketball in side to the post where the big men would take over. Every so often, however, there came along a b ril– liant shooter with star potential who could not be ignored by a coach . Maravich and Mill er we re two such talents. Indeed, few players have helped rede– fin e a pos ition as much as LSU's "Pistol" Pete did to the guard spot during the late '60s. Long before the three-point shot enabl ed smaller players to pull up 20 fee t from the basket and fire away, Maravich was electrifying fan s across the nation with a fl ashy b rand of ball that stayed true to class ic fund amentals. I-le raised the diffi – cult skill of long-distance shooting to an art fo rm, launching incredibl e arcing shots th at seemed to drop with the grea test of case in to the ne t. Whether he was driving th e lane, toying with a hapless defender or pulling up fo r one of his many pa tented shots, hi s fea ts as tonished just about everyone. I le was a hard working athl ete who, on the strength of hi s astounding scoring average, essentially turned around a program that had won just th ree games prior to hi s arrival. Former T iger ass istant coach Jay McC rea ry once sa id that Ma ravich, who passed away in 1988, was a fa ntastic showman who knew just what the fa ns wanted to see. '!'hough Cheryl Mill er pl ayed her col– lege ball at trad ition-rich USC during the early '80s, her accomplishments were no less amazing. At a time when the women's game was struggling to ga in acceptance even at the local level, Miller stormed into th e coll ege ranks with a mesmerizing game that left observers th roughout the country wanting to see more. A true leader on the court, she displayed a rare gift fo r controlling the fl ow of a game and fo r reg– ul arl y deli ve ring in clutch situ at ions. Mill er possessed a silky-smooth shot that was lethal from all areas of the court. She worked tirelessly, and many may believe effortlessly, to succeed, at the individual

When it comes to classic long-di stance shooters, few compare in stature and achi evement to Lo ui siana State University's Pete Maravich and Sou thern Cali fornia's Cheryl Miller. During their res pective playi ng careers, both athl etes lit up the scoreboa rd on a nightly basis and thrill ed fa ns and opponents alike with exceptional skill s that eleva ted the coll ege game to new heights. Even more impres– sive are their ca reer scoring averagcs– Maravich at 44.2 (still an NCM record) and Miller at 23.6 points per game-dur– ing the "two-point shot" era. Prior to the inception of the three– point shot in the 1986-87 season, most long-di stance shooters had to conten t themselves with playing in the shadows of the big bruisers who often decided games under the basket. Guards and even small forwa rds with a good touch were often uti– lized to stretch out defenses in order to

USC's Cheryl Miller gunning for two

and team levels and in bringing grea ter recognition to the women's game. For her efforts, Mill er, who is now the head coach at her alma mater, ca ptured the Naismith Award as th e national player of the year an unprecedented three times, and led the Women of T roy to consecuti ve NCM titl es in 1983 and 1984. The AT&T Long Distance Awards recognize male and fema le student athletes who make the best long-distance connections. Each month and at the conclusion of the season, the top three– point shooters will be honored in two ca tegories-most three-point shots made and hi ghest three-point shooting percent– age. AT&T will award a plaque to each player, and will recogni ze each winner with a donation to the NCM Degree Completion Scholarship Fund. Now in its sixth year, the AT&T Long Distance Awards have resulted in more than $250,000 in scholarship donations.

LSU's Pete Marovich firing away

FROM THE EDITORIAL PROJECTS DEPARTMENT OF COLLEGE HOOPS 1lLUSIRATE0