Everyone Has a Welcome Mat, but Maravich Had One for E.T.

Phoenix Sun Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons told Tim Tyers of the Arizona Republic that Charles Barkley isn’t the most eccentric player he has coached.

That distinction goes to Pete Maravich.

“The Pistol was eccentric,” said Fitzsimmons, who coached Maravich for two seasons with the Atlanta Hawks. “He painted pictures on the roof of his house. When the aliens came, he wanted them to think he was their friend. True story, he wanted them to know they were welcome.”

Trivia time: Who preceded Pete Carril as Princeton’s basketball coach?

The Lohaus factor: Peter May in the Boston Globe: “Is it time to finally call Brad Lohaus the Coach Killer? When Jeff Van Gundy succeeded [Don] Nelson Friday, he became the 12th coach Lohaus has played for in seven NBA seasons with eight teams.

“Even more bizarre is that Lohaus played for three coaches in five years at the University of Iowa--Lute Olson, George Raveling and Tom Davis.”

Writer fans: A recently released book titled “The Joy of Keeping Score” reprints some scorecards of great baseball games. Included is Cal Ripken Jr.’s record-breaking 2,131st game, which was scored by the book’s author, Paul Dickson.

Unfortunately, throughout the scorecard, Ripken’s name is spelled Ripkin, a point Dickson failed to mention in the book.

Good thing no one’s keeping score of the scorekeeper.

Baffling Bruins: Michael Wilbon in the Washington Post: “Is anybody in the [NCAA] tournament field more capable of winning the whole thing or going out in the first round than defending champion UCLA?”

Then, Wilbon predicts that UCLA will be in the Final Four, joining Georgetown, Villanova and Kansas.

Aspiring hacker: Gifts for Lou Henson, who recently retired after 21 years as Illinois basketball coach, included a full bag of golf clubs with the Illini logo and a golf cart. There’s only one problem with the gift.

“I’m a terrible golfer. I just started last year,” Henson said.

Advice to Henson: Sell the clubs but keep the cart.

Get rid of it: Nick Canepa in the San Diego Union-Tribune: “Now that Lou Henson is retiring, maybe he’ll retire that bad rug of his.”

Ouch! From the Good Doctor in Inside Sports:

Q: What became of football player Doug Flutie?

A: He sings for that hot new band, Flutie and the Blowfish.

Trivia answer: Bill van Breda Kolff, who left Princeton to take the Laker coaching job.

Quotebook: San Jose State Coach Stan Morrison on Kentucky, his team’s opponent today in the NCAA tournament: “They have two great teams. One is sitting on the side. The other is on the court.”