BATON ROUGE — The election season isn’t quite over for the LSU Athletics Department as they are continuing to receive ballots for the 100th anniversary All-Century men’s basketball team.
As of Nov. 1, the three players who have banners hanging from the rafters of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center are the leaders in the voting of the fans.
Center Shaquille O’Neal, who played from 1990-92, has been listed on 99 percent of the ballots, while the game’s all-time Division I scoring leader, Pete Maravich, is on 97 percent of the ballots. Bob Pettit, who led LSU to its first NCAA Final Four in the 1950s, was listed on 85 percent of the ballots.
Fans can vote for their All-Century ballots here on LSUsports.net. Fans can vote for 15 players for the 15-member team that will be announced at halftime of the 100th anniversary game on Jan. 31 against Arkansas. The game will culminate a weekend of activities that include a player reunion night, an alumni game and the centennial SEC Western Division contest.
The fan ballots count will be weighted for 50 percent of the vote combined with the decision of the centennial committee which will also count for 50 percent of the vote. Voting continues until midnight on Nov. 30. Besides online voting, fans attending LSU men’s games on Nov. 15, 20, 22, 28 and 30 will be able to cast ballots at the LSU Fan Zone at the Maravich Center.
There is still plenty of room for movement in the ballot in the final weeks of voting as the rest of the top 10 shows Chris Jackson at 79 percent, Durand Macklin 73 percent, Glen Davis 70 percent, Ricky Blanton 64 percent, Brandon Bass 45 percent, Collis Temple and Sparky Wade 43 percent each.
The second 10 in the fan voting as of Nov. 1 was Stromile Swift 39 percent, Tyrus Thomas 38 percent, Joe Dean 37 percent, Don Redden 36 percent, Ethan Martin 35 percent, Howard Carter 33 percent, DeWayne Scales 31 percent, Darrel Mitchell, Vernel Singleton and John Williams with 27 percent each.
“We would urge all our fans who haven’t cast their ballots to do so either at the early home games or online,” said Kent Lowe, LSU Basketball SID and co-chairman of the Centennial Committee. “There are several other players whose percentage is presently in the 20s and I think you can see as in any election there is still a lot of volatility in how these percentages can change as more votes are cast.”
Lowe would also like to ask any players who have not received a response form by next week for the 100th anniversary reunion to please contact the LSU Sports Information Office.
“We realize some of the addresses we have may have changed and we really want to make sure we reach as many players and staff members as possible so feel free to contact us at 225-578-8226 and leave their contact information and the years they were a part of the LSU men’s basketball program,” said Lowe.
The 2008-09 season begins on Nov. 15 as the LSU Tigers host Jackson State at 1 p.m. at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Season tickets are on sale starting at $100 and single game tickets for the opener as part of LSU’s Tipoff Weekend are just $1 each. Tickets can be purchased at the LSU Athletics Ticket Office and online at LSUsports.net.