Freshman guard Eli Maravich says he doesn’t mind if you call out “Pistol Pete” from the stands of Ben Light Gymnasium. He says he loves when fans interact with the players and get into the game. But he does want one thing cleared up: He is not the nephew of the legendary Hall of Famer “Pistol” Pete Maravich.

Now, that’s not to say the two are not related. They are distant cousins and certainly share the same bloodline. However, the rumor going around that the nephew of the leading NCAA Division I all-time scoring leader is suiting up for the Bombers is purely fiction.

Though they are not as closely related as rumored, Eli has spent as much time learning about “The Pistol” as he can. Pete died in 1988 — before Eli was born — of a sudden heart attack while playing in a pickup game at the age of 40.         Though they were never able to meet, Eli said he’s honored to be carrying on the name of one of the all-time greats.

“My whole life I’ve had posters of him in my room, and I’ve always read the books about him,” Eli said. “There are also YouTube highlights of him that are cool.”

Pistol Pete was known for his offense and was one of the first to develop trick shots and include them in games. In college, he scored 3,667 points and averaged a flat-out ridiculous 44.2 points per game at Louisiana State University — both are NCAA records.

“He didn’t even have a three-point line when he played,” Eli said. “He also only played three seasons because at the time of his freshman year, they didn’t allow freshmen to play varsity.”

So what did the LSU fans do when the best player on campus was stuck playing junior varsity? They crammed the gym for the under-billed JV game and left before the older squad hit the floor.

While Pete was a wizard on offense, Eli has been a defensive spark plug for Ithaca, causing turnovers and diving after loose balls.

“I’m from Pittsburgh, and it’s a blue-collar city,” Eli said. “My coaches always preached defense. You can always help the team out by hustling.”

Aside from the nearly unbelievable stats that Pistol Pete recorded, what Eli says he admires most about his relative is how dedicated he was to giving back to his fans, especially the young ones.

One of Eli’s favorite stories about The Pistol was how he would go to local fairs and play the basketball games to win prizes. Of course he would win every time and hand his earnings to all the kids who gathered around to watch him until a frustrated carnival worker kicked him off the game.

“I would love to tell him I appreciate the way he gave back to the fans and everyone he adored,” Eli said.