This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 12/10/2003.
The offering of the Pete Maravich estate in our Fall Classic 2002 auction was a monumental event for basketball fans. Maravich was an icon, and basketball fans and Louisianians alike are obsessed with him to this day. It seemed that almost everyone wanted to come away from that auction with something by which they could remember Maravich, something that could somehow connect his life with theirs. At the center of it all was, to quote the original item description, "perhaps the most important basketball jersey in existence," Maravich's 1967-68 Louisiana State University game-used home jersey. No one ever thought such a jersey existed, and it took Maravich's wife herself to bring such a piece to the marketplace. She had no knowledge at the time of any other Maravich LSU jersey's existence. Bidding was furious, and when the dust cleared, a lucky and determined bidder took it home for just over $100,000.
Our auction of the Maravich items generated tremendous publicity, and it was our hope that this would bring other such pieces out of the woodwork. Shortly after our Summer Games 2003 auction, which included Maravich's autograph on personal checks and handwritten letters, among other items, we received a call from Maravich's cousin. The item he wanted to put in this auction was beyond our wildest dreams: Maravich's 1969-70 LSU game-used senior year home white knit jersey.
This is Maravich's jersey from his best season as a basketball player, in which he absolutely smashed Frank Selvy's 1954 single-season college scoring record of 1,209 points by scoring 1,381 points with an unthinkable average of 44.5 points per game, also a record. That season left "Pistol" Pete with 3,667 points in only three years on the varsity team, meaning that his average season total was higher than Selvy's previous record. Along the way, "Pistol Pete" had set numerous NCAA, SEC, and school records and was named a three-time All-America after leading the NCAA in scoring each year. He also set an NCAA record by scoring more than 50 points 28 times, which is all the more remarkable given that college games are 40 minutes long and Maravich played without the benefit of the later-added three point line.
Maravich was the consensus Player of the Year during his senior year. On the left front tail of the jersey is the "Sand-Knit" manufacturer's tag with the size "40" and the washing instructions. Above this tag is a tag which says "Sporting Goods Holmes New Orleans-Baton Rouge Distributors Athletic Sand Knit Clothing Sand Knitting Mills Corp Cerlin, Wisconsin." We have never seen such a tag before, which is a testament to its rarity. On the front of the jersey is the college name "LSU." The player number "23" appears on the front below "LSU" as well as on the back of the jersey. All of the letters and numbers are made of gold on purple soft tackle twill. The jersey has gold and purple trim. It shows great game use with buckling of the letters, numbers, and tags and appears to have no alterations of any kind.
The jersey's provenance is impeccable, as it comes with a detailed letter from Shatlan explaining how he idolized his cousin "Pistol" Pete and was blown away when Maravich gave him his jersey after his senior year. The winning bidder will also receive a copy of a photo Steve took of Maravich being carried off the court after breaking Oscar Robertson's career scoring record of 2,973 points. Shatlan believes Maravich was wearing this exact jersey when he broke that record. According to Shatlan, LSU officials asked Maravich's father Press a few years later if he knew where this jersey was so that they could acquire it for their Hall of Fame, but Press wanted "Little Stevie" to have it. "Little Stevie" is now ready to let the jersey go, and the winning bidder will unquestionably have a Hall of Fame of his own.