The LSU Tigers community is mourning the loss of a legend, former basketball and NBA legend Bob Pettit.
It's a sad day for the world of LSU Tigers basketball and sports in general as legendary figure Bob Pettit passed away at 93 years old, the school announced on Thursday afternoon.
Pettit will always be remembered in Baton Rouge with his statue sitting on campus. He was one of the first true stars to play for the basketball team. His three-year run was so iconic that the school retired his No. 50 jersey immediately after it ended in 1954, making him the first athlete to have his number retired by the school.
Over his three-year stint, he averaged an incredible 27.4 points and 14.4 rebounds per game. This was before the three-point line, of course, making his scoring production even more impressive.
Pettit was the first player to lead the Tigers to an NCAA Final Four appearance back in 1953. He was a two-time All-American, making the First Team as a senior when he put up 31.4 points and 17.3 rebounds a night. He made three All-SEC First Teams.
The Milwaukee Hawks (now in Atlanta) selected Pettit with the second overall pick in the 1954 draft. The team moved to St. Louis the following year, and Pettit spent his entire decorated career there. As fantastic as his college career was, his professional one could be even more memorable.
He was a Rookie of the Year winner and won his first MVP in his second season (he won a second in 1959). Like at LSU, he scored with ease and dominated the boards. His 11-year average was 26.4 points and 16.2 rebounds. He made an All-Star and an All-NBA team each season. There simply weren't many people playing like him at the time or even after, really.
Pettit has been immortalized in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and as a top-75 player All-Time on the league's 75th anniversary team.
It's fitting that Pettit will forever be remembered as one of the Tigers' most influential athletes of all time. He grew up in Baton Rouge, went to Baton Rouge High and then made the natural choice, though he did have other options, to go to LSU.
He is one of the people who helped make LSU the destination for elite talent that it is today, laying the foundation that players like Pete Maravich and Shaquille O'Neal were able to build upon.
Pettit's place in the annals of Tigers history is secure and will be celebrated for generations to come.
