Caitlin Clark vs Pete Maravich

 

    This is one of those stories without a winner or loser. Both individuals have been great for college basketball and both brought out legends of fans to follow their exploits. It also is not a story to infer the difference between male and female athletics. I have been asked about my feelings on this comparison, so here we go.

  Caitlin Clark is a six foot and 155 pound basketball player for the University of Iowa. This 2023 basketball season she broke the all-time scoring record set back in the 1970s by Pete Maravich of Louisiana State University. That is the basic story and one the mass media was quick to pound into our heads.

  Clark was a two-time Associated Press Player of the Year. a two-time John Wooden Award winner as the most outstanding player in college basketball, a three-time unanimous All-American, and a three-time First Team All-American.

  She also was the number one player in high school basketball back in 2020 as voted by ESPN. Scoring is the name of the game and Clark scored a bunch. Three thousand, nine hundred, and fifty-one to be exact. Most came her way by taking advantage of the long three point shot (25 feet from goal). Clark was good on 548 three point shots for 1,644 points of her total.

She finished her four-year career at Iowa and was the first overall player taken in the WNBA. The professional Indiana Fever made Clark their first pick and she will be a rookie in 2024.

As for Pete Maravich,...Here is a kid that grew up with a basketball in his hands. Being the son of a college coach, he ate and slept with a basketball. Pete practiced by himself for hours on end, learning trick passes and taking shots nobody else could conceive. His father, Press Maravich, was coach at Clemson when he got the job at Louisiana State. He insisted that Pete come to Baton Rouge to play his college ball. Pete had acquired the nickname 'Pistol Pete' during his high school days; one of which he scored 68 points in a single game.

Pete was 6 foot 5 inches tall and weighed 197 pounds in college.

Pete could not play his freshman year at LSU since the NCAA had a ruling against first year players on the varsity at that time. When his sophomore season rolled around Pete was ready and exploded for 1,138 points that year for an average of 43.8 points per game. As a junior he was slightly better, scoring 1,148 points for a game average of 44.2. Remember this was at LSU, a school known for football and not basketball. Maravich changed all that. As a senior, Pistol Pete tallied 1,381 points for an average of 44.5 per game. Each year was a new NCAA record. Maravich finished his college career with a total of 3,662 points in just a three year career. An NCAA scoring record that stood for 50 years.  At the time of his playing days there was no such thing as a three-point shot, so all of Pete's points came as two-point field goals or one-point foul shots.

    LSU has no bigger rival in the Southeast Conference that the Alabama Crimson Tide. The schools circle the calendars on dates they meet in football. Maravich showed the Tide that LSU was ready to battle in basketball also. His senior year Pete scored 68 points against Alabama. After he left school the following year the Tigers renamed their home floor Maravich Arena.

As good as Maravich was in college, the professional game was just not for him. He was the number pick of the Atlanta Hawks but they had nobody around him to post a winning record. After four seasons he was traded to the New Orleans Jazz, an expansion team. They did not build a following, despite having the high scoring Maravich. The Jazz moved the franchise to Utah and Pete finished a 6 year stay there before moving to the Boston Celtics. He played half a season before announcing his retirement.

  Pete died in 1988 at the age of 40, ironically the end came while Pistol was playing in a pick-up game of basketball.

Dallas Cowboys 2024 College Draft

 

The 2024 College Draft was held in Detroit, Michigan and the Dallas Cowboys carried a lengthy shopping list with them as they headed for the motor city. Dallas has made the playoffs in recent years, but never advancing to the NFC Championship Game.

The Free Agency period came and went without the Cowboys moving off the dime. Activity around the Cowboy Camp could have been measured with a sundial in a jar of thick molasses.

Team that with some major losses of veteran Cowboys to other teams in that same Free Agency and the urgency of the situation begins to make its head shown in Cowboy Country. Lost to other teams were: Future Hall of Famer Tyron Smith at left tackle, running back Tony Pollard, center Tyler Biadasz, defensive end Dorance Armstrong, and defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins. All of them will not be dressing in the blue and silver for the 2024 season.

In the first round of the draft on Thursday night Dallas made a trade with the Detroit Lions to move from the 24th overall selection back to 29th and also picked up the 87th overall pick from the Lions. When the 29th pick rolled around, the Cowboys chose a homeboy from Austin, Texas. Offensive tackle Tyler Guyton of the University of Oklahoma.

Guyton is listed as six foot seven inches tall and weighs in at 322 pounds. He started his collegiate career at TCU, but after two years made the transfer to OU. The Sooners used him at tight end for a bit before moving him to right tackle. OU had a left-handed quarterback so Guyton was responsible for guarding his blind side. Sooners offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh has been at Norman for ten years and called Guyton the best tackle to play for OU since he has been there. Guyton told reporters the one pro tackle he looked up to was Tyron Smith of Dallas,...now he will be groomed to replace his idol.

    In the second round, Dallas had the 56th overall pick and looked for help on the edge of the defensive line. They chose Marshawn Kneeland of Western Michigan. He stands six foot three and tips the scales at 267 pounds.

In 2023 Kneeland led the team in tackles, and most of them came in the offensive backfield. He was credited with 4.5 quarterback sacks last season, and was named second team all-conference. Coaches call him an elite athlete with exceptional 'first step' speed. His work ethic was also pointed out by his coaches at Western Michigan.

In the third round Dallas had the 73rd overall pick from that trade with Detroit in the first round. With this pick Dallas chose guard Cooper Beebe from Kansas State University.

That's Beebe #50 for the Wildcats. He was named a first team All-American by the Associated Press. Beebe was recruited as a defensive tackle but moved to offensive guard in his freshman year. He played left guard all four years at K-State but was versatile to help out when injuries hit the team. He played 106 snaps at right tackle and 20 snaps at left tackle in 2023.

Beebe ran a 5.03 forty yard dash at the NFL Combine. He stands six foot three inches tall and weighs in at 322 pounds. If there was a downside to his physical abilities it would be his arm length.. they are only 31 and a half inches long...BUT the upside is he can play center and that fills the gap left by the departure of Tyler Biadasz.

Dallas had its own pick in the third round, and it came with the 87th pick of the draft. With that pick the Cowboys selected linebacker Marist Liufau of Notre Dame University.

  Liufau ran a 4.64 forty yard dash at the NFL Combine and was measured at six foot two and a half inches tall and 234 pounds in weight. He has good size with long arms and solid foot movement. Has great peripheral vision to locate threats from the outside. He suffered a serious ankle injury in 2021 that ended his season, but coaches and medical personnel say he is fully recovered from that injury.

Irish coaches say he uses his hands to keep blockers at a distance and is very physical at the point of attack. He was a starter for his last two season at Notre Dame and with Dallas's loss at the linebacker position, he could be on the field to start the 2024 season.

Dallas did not have a pick in the fourth round of the draft, but when the selection process moved to Saturday Dallas had four picks to deal with.

In the fifth round, the Cowboys used the 174 overall spot to acquire Caelen Carson, a defensive back from Wake Forest University..He is six foot tall and weighs in at 199 pounds.

Carson is a versatile player who can defend both slot and wide receivers. Coaches say he has good route recognition with a quick understanding of schemes. Physical player with good hands to fend off opposing players. Excellent coverage of runs and screen pass plays, but his aggressiveness sometimes gets him out of position.

With the sixth round, the Cowboys had the 216th overall pick and used it to get wide receiver Ryan Flournoy from Missouri State University. He is six foot one and 202 pounds in weight.

Flournoy has a wingspan of 76 inches and is said to catch everything in the same zip code. He is a first team All-South Conference performer with 118 catches for over 1800 yards and 13 touchdowns. Ideal size and athletic abilities for an outside receiver. Known for breaking tackles and runs after the catch. Missed two games early in season with broken hand, but now fully healed.

Dallas had two selections in the seventh round of the draft, the 233rd and 244th overall picks. With the first one they went for Nathan Thomas, an offensive tackle from the University of Louisiana. He is six foot five and tips the scales at 332 pounds.

Thomas is a tall and huge human being with a thick, muscular build and extremely big hands. Easily transitions from pass protection to a dominating run blocker. Good use of his hands Started 12 games in 2023 at right tackle but probably will be moved to guard in the NFL. Played in 2023 in East-West Shrine Bowl Game. Runnin' Rebels primarily a running team so he will need experience as a pass protecter. 

With the second pick in the 7th round, Dallas selected defensive tackle Justin Rogers of Auburn University. He is six foot three and 346 pounds.

Rogers played three years at the University of Kentucky before transferring to Auburn for the 2023 season. Last year he recorded 17 solo tackles and three more behind the line of scrimmage. Played in the East-West Shrine Bowl Game before being invited to the NFL Combine. Rogers met Cowboy coaches at that game played in Frisco, Texas. Auburn coaches call him resilient, adaptable, with a strong work ethic.

That concludes the 2024 NFL College Draft for the Dallas Cowboys and now coaches will spread out to look for those super college players who were not drafted. Some key free agent players for Dallas that did not come by way of the draft include Drew Pearson and Tony Romo.