NABC Silver Anniversary All-America Team

By Dennis Dodd

From NABC Courtside, April 1995

Funny how greatness links players together.

The five players on the 1995 NABC Silver Anniversary All-America Team were from different cultures, races, teams, even widespread geographical regions. But since they all came out of college at the same time, 1970, they can tell the same stories and share the same experiences.

Take American University law professor Perry Wallace, Jr. The man has been through Columbia Law School and been a trial attorney for the federal government. Yet, some of his most vivid memories are playing against fellow Silver Anniversary team members Pete Maravich and Charlie Scott.

Both Scott and Wallace were the first black athletes in their conferences at a time of social upheaval.


Scott, Calvin Murphy and Maravich were all great shooters who just barely brushed the surface of what could have been with the three-pointer.

Jim McMillian took the reverse route of Scott. He left Carolina to come to New York to play college basketball. Scott’s family moved from New York to Carolina where he became one of the best Tar Heels in history.

And the legends live on. McMillian has a 6-foot, 9-inch son who is threatening to become a college star. Scott Williams, son of Kansas Coach Roy Williams, took his first name from Charlie’s last name. Calvin Murphy Jr., 16, is playing on a state championship team in Houston.

Enjoying them all, including Golden Anniversary honoree, Marv Harshmann, the coaching great at Washington, Washington State and Pacific Lutheran.

Here are the stories:

Pete Maravich

The shame of it all is that “The Pistol” never really got to take advantage of the rule that seemingly was invented just for him.

Oh sure, Maravich shot 15 three-pointers (making 10) in his last NBA season in 1979-80, but that was it. He was a showman, not just a player. The three-point line would have added to the legend.

It has been a quarter-century now since Maravich left Louisiana State, having set scoring marks that haven’t even been approached since then. That the NCAA’s highest career scoring average, 44.2 points per game, was accomplished without that three-point stripe is amazing and disappointing. (Click here to see the actual scoersheet from the game in which Pete Maravich broke the NCAA total points scored recored.)

Even without the dizzying numbers Maravich could have put up with the three, he was a three-time unanimous All-American and player of the year in 1970.

Maravich took court style to a new level but was dogged throughout his career that his fantastic talents didn’t translate to winning for his teams. LSU was 49-35 in his three seasons. His NBA teams finished below .500 in nine out of 10 seasons.

“What happened was that Press (Maravich’s father and LSU coach) built the team around Pete,” said Perry Wallce Jr. who played against Maravich at Vanderbilt. “By and large the team wouldn’t have been better off with someone else taking the shots”
The legacy Maravich left was not built on NBA championships but can be seen on the playgrounds of America. The no-look pass, between the legs dribble, fall-away jumper, Maravich could do it all, and with flair. Kids are copying his 25-year old moves today without even knowing it.”

“He would still play with those guys in the NBA today,” Wallace said. “He was deceptively able. He had those droopy socks. He understood angles and distances. He was a very smart ballplayer.”

Maravich reached his pinnacle in 1976-77 with the New Orleans Jazz. On a bad team, Maravich led the NBA in scoring 31.1 points per game. Thirteen times he scored 40 points or more including a 68-point performance against the New York Knicks on Feb. 25, 1977.

The next season started a slow decline that eventually led to Maravich’s retirement in 1980. Problems with both knees started to slow him down. On Jan. 31, 1978, he tore up one knee jumping up to whip a between-the-legs pass downcourt. A simple outlet pass would have been enough but Maravich did it with his typical panache by jumping in the air. He landed wrong and would never be the same again.

The Jazz waived him in January 1980 and Boston picked up Maravich in his final season. Even in decline, Maravich was able to average 11.5 points for the team-oriented Celtics.

In 1982, Maravich became a Christian. In 1985, the Jazz retired his number. In 1986, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Almost eight years to the day after the Jazz had cut him, Maravich was playing a pick-up game when he suddenly died of a heart attack at age 40.

The court where Pistol Pete played his last game, fittingly, had a three-point line.

Charlie Scott

It wasn’t anything special being the first black athlete at North Carolina, scott remembered.

There was the occasional racial slur on the road, but what was important was being able to play basketball in Chapel Hill.

North Carolina found out it soon had one of its all-time best players. Scott was one of the best pure shooters from the era.

“What he did in the ACC finals that year (junior year) was make his last nine shots in a row scoring 26 in the second half and 40 for the game. Two weeks later in the Eastern regionals he made his last seven shots and scored 36, including the last one at the buzzer to beat Maryland and going to the Final Four” said Williams, who was Scott’s junior-varsity teammate at the time.

He was the ABA’s league rookie of the year in 1970-71 playing Julius Erving and the Virginia Squires. A year later he was the ABA'’ scoring champ at 34.6 points per game.

In the 1971-72 season he jumped to the NBA’s Phoenix Suns scoring 25.3, 25.4 and 24.3 points in his first three full seasons. His career came full circle in 1975-76 when Scott joined the Boston Celtics. Scott finished up his career with Denver playing with the likes of former ABA greats George McGinnis and David Thompson. Former Carolina stars Michael Jordan, Phil Ford and Walter Davis have given their proper respect to Scott for paving the way for future black athletes.

Calvin Murphy

It was all about respect with Calvin Murphy, respect for the small player when no-one would give it. As one of the most creative and consistent guards in NBA history, Murphy continually shifted his game to be more effective. In 13 NBA seasons he was a sixth man, shooting guard and point guard. Throughout his career, he perfected an art that is lost today: free-throw shooting. Murphy led the NBA in free-throw shooting twice and was in the top six in nine of his other 11 seasons. All that, even though Murphy was only 5-9. Small guards Muggsy Bogues and spud Webb have given Murphy his propers over the years in breaking the small-guard stereotype.

At Niagara, Murphy became a two-time All-America scoring 33.1 points per game which is still the fourth highest career mark in the NCAA history behind Oscar Robinson. The then-San diego Rockets drafted him in the second round in 1970. He became the centerpiece for a team that didn’t reach the .500 mark until his seventh season. In 13 seasons, Murphy became the franchise’s leader in scoring (17,949 points), assists (4,402) and games played (1,002).

Calvin played with intensity and energy that was contagious” said Earl Monroe who spoke at Murphy’s Hall of Fame induction in 1993. “Calvin knew only one speed – he attacked the basketball court.”

It was the free-throw shooting that made Murphy famous and notorious. His NBA record of 78 straight free throws stood until 1992-93 when Michael Williams broke it with 84 in a row.

Perry Wallace Jr.

Unlike Maravich and Scott, Wallace wasn’t a college basketball superstar. Unlike Murphy and McMillian, he wasn’t a great pro. “Those guys were greats,” Wallace said. “I was an average-to-good player.”

Maybe, but what Wallace, the first black player in the Southeastern Conference, has accomplished in his days since starring at Vanderbilt make him a great American, not just a great player. He led the Commodores in scoring as a senior with 17.7 points per game.

“I had the great honor and great humility of competing against Pistol Pete,” Wallace said. “I guarded him only for a few minutes until he be past me. It was an embarrassingly short time that I guarded him.”

Wallace’s pro career lasted as long as it took the Philadelphia 76ers and Kentucky Colonels to draft him. He never played for either team, electing for a short stint in the Eastern League instead.

Wallace knew his true calling. He currently is a professor of law at American University in Washington D.C.

Jim McMillian

The nine-year NBA veteran was one of the most gentlemanly players in the history of the game. Before that he put Columbia on the basketball map by averaging 22.8 points in three seasons.

Still, there was always the backdrop of Brooklyn’s East New York where McMillian’s family settled after moving from North Carolina. It probably helped McMillian that he was able to get out of New York and play for the Lakers out of Columbia.

“That (1970) was a great year for the draft,” McMillian said. “Bob Lanier, Calvin Murphy, Dave Cowens, Pete Maravich. Teams wanted them to come in and take them to the next level. I was on a team filled with superstars. We just had to play roles.”

On a team with Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Happy Hairston, McMillian was able to fit in well averaging 18.8 and 18.9 before being traded to Buffalo in 1973. The NBA career ended in 1979 but McMillian was almost persuaded to return the next season with the then-San Diego Clippers.

McMillian went to Italy and played for a couple more years. The game, even then, was beginning to change. “Superstars then are not like superstars now,” McMillian said. “They weren’t as demanding.”

The game will continue to change without Jim McMillian, but with his guidance, Aron (his son) will see to that.