Hall of Fame basketball coach George Raveling died at age 88, his family announced in a social media post. Raveling was surrounded by family at the time of his passing after battling cancer. The Washington D.C. native played basketball at Villanova from 1957-60, and after a collegiate career where he helped lead the Wildcats to two NIT appearances, he became an assistant coach for Villanova from 1963-69.
Raveling coached as an assistant at Maryland before landing his first head coach position at Washington State for nearly a decade in the early 70s. He also coached at Iowa and finally USC, where he earned NABC Coach of he Year honors in 1992 while coaching the Trojans. During his time with USC, Raveling earned Pac-10 Coach of the Year three times. Over his 22 years as a head coach he amassed a 336-292 record, and earned induction into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.
“It is with deep sadness and unimaginable pain that we share the passing of our beloved ‘Coach,’ George Henry Raveling, who faced cancer with courage and grace,” his family announced. “He transitioned peacefully at 88, surround by family as well as love, faith and sacred protection. There are no words to fully capture what George meant to his family, friends, colleagues, former players, and assistants — and to the world. He will be profoundly missed, yet his aura energy, divine presence, and timeless wisdom live on in all those he touched and transformed.”
Raveling also served as an assistant coach at the 1984 Olympics for Team USA, where he coached Michael Jordan on the way to a gold medal. Raveling played an integral part in Jordan building a sneaker empire, as he introduced former Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro to Jordan in an effort to get him to sign with the sportswear brand. Jordan credits Raveling as the key reason he signed with Nike over several other brands that wanted him, saying in 2015, “…Sonny (Vaccaro) likes to take the credit, but it really wasn’t Sonny, it was actually George Raveling. … When I got a chance to play in the Olympics, I became very good friends with George Raveling. He’s the one, in all honestly, that really persuaded me to look at Nike, because I wasn’t ready to look at Nike.”
After retirement from coaching in 1994, Raveling served as the director for international basketball at Nike.
Aside from being an important figure in the basketball world, Raveling was also present for a key piece in American history as he served as security for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington in 1963. Raveling was on stage as Dr. King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech and had the original typewritten copy of the speech after asking Dr. King for it. The speech is on display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C.
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