Josh Maravich, a former LSU basketball player and the son of the legendary Pete Maravich, died Friday, the Tigers announced. He was 42 years old.
The cause of death was not revealed, although he is said to have died at his family home in Covington, Louisiana.
Josh was one of Pete’s two children, the other being his older brother Jaeson. Josh was just five years old when the NCAA men’s all-time leading scorer died of heart failure at age 40 during a pickup game, leaving the boys with their mother Jackie.
Despite their father’s absence, Josh continued to pursue a basketball career. According to LSU, he scored more than 1,000 points in his high school career at St. Paul’s School in Covington and averaged 18 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals per game his senior year, earning MVP honors in his district.
He knew from an early age that he wanted to play in college at LSU like his father, even though he was not a top recruit and had to move on:
“I wanted to come here to make my dad proud,” Josh said in a 2005 article in the LSU school newspaper, The Daily Reveille. “I knew I wasn’t going to be a star player, but for me, being a walk-on was what I always wanted to do.”
Maravich played sporadically for the Tigers under head coach John Brady, scoring four points in seven career games. He remained involved with LSU after graduation and helped erect a statue in his father’s honor.
Funeral arrangements for Maravich will be announced at a later date, according to LSU.
