Early Tuesday morning, former WSU basketball head coach George Raveling passed away at the age of 88. According to his family, who were with him, his passing was peaceful.
Raveling was one of the most successful head coaches for the men’s WSU basketball team from 1972 to 1983, leading the Cougars to two NCAA Tournament appearances in 1980 and 1983. He was named the conference coach of the year twice in his career. Raveling made history for the Pac-12, becoming the first Black coach in the history of the conference.
He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015 and the WSU Hall of Fame in 2004 for his excellence in coaching, finishing his career as a Coug with 167 wins and 136 losses.
Raveling was born in Washington, D.C. on June 27, 1937. His childhood leaned heavily on education, as his father died when he was nine years old and his mother was institutionalized at thirteen.
He started playing basketball in the ninth grade after his grandmother signed him up for sports. His education led him to play basketball at Villanova University, where he was a dominant rebounder. He finished second all-time for rebounds in a single season in 1958.
Raveling was drafted in the seventh round of the 1960 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia Warriors but did not play a single game. After his playing career, he went back to Villanova as an assistant coach.
In 1963, he went to the March on Washington with Martin Luther King Jr. Raveling was on the podium of the speech, asking King for a copy of “I Have A Dream.” King gave the original typed speech to Raveling, who kept it for 58 years before gifting it to Villanova University.
After his time coaching with Villanova for nine years, he moved to Maryland to be an assistant coach for the Maryland Terps basketball.
In 1972, Raveling got an offer to become the head coach for Washington State University in Pullman. Raveling took the position to make history as black coaches and players were underrepresented at WSU.
Raveling wanted to change the culture of WSU basketball by creating a strong foundation for players to fit into a system to sustain a winning culture. Raveling coached James Donaldson and Craig Ehlo, who went on to have successful NBA careers.
After his time with WSU, Raveling went on to coach the men’s basketball team for the University of Iowa from 1983-1986 and the University of Southern California from 1986-1994. He was also an assistant coach to the Olympic teams in 1984 and 1988 that won medals. He led both USC and Iowa teams to two NCAA tournament appearances each before having his coaching career ended at 57 due to a severe car accident.
Although his coaching career had ended, it didn’t stop him from impacting the game of basketball. Raveling went on to work for Nike as the Director of International Basketball. In his position, he helped shape and define the Nike brand in basketball through the works of the Jordan brand.
Raveling, along with Phil Knight and Sonny Vaccaro, helped create the Jordan brand with Michael Jordan. Jordan himself called Raveling a “mentor and a friend.”
The partnership created one of the most iconic shoe brands of all time, making Nike a multi-billion-dollar company.
Along with Nike, Raveling was a color commentator for CBS and Fox Sports with college basketball. He was specifically chosen as a commentator for Pac-10 games.
In 2013, he was selected to be the recipient of the Lapchick Award for honorable character in the game of basketball. Only two years later, he was awarded the highest honor in basketball by being inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame.
The family didn’t disclose the type of cancer Raveling died from.
