George Raveling: Pioneering Basketball Coach
George Raveling--who starred as a player at Villanova before successful coaching stints at Washington State, Iowa, and USC--passed away yesterday at the age of 88. Raveling was inducted in the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013, the same year that he received the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (the Hall's highest honor other than induction). Raveling was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a Contributor in 2015. After Raveling passed away, Michael Jordan issued this statement: "For more than 40
years, he blessed my life with wisdom, encouragement, and friendship. He
was a mentor in every sense and I'll always carry deep gratitude for
his guidance. I signed with Nike because of George, and without him,
there would be no Air Jordan."
Raveling led Villanova to NIT appearances in 1959 and 1960, and he was selected by the Philadelphia Warriors in the 1960 NBA Draft but he did not play in the NBA. Instead, Raveling became an assistant coach at Villanova. Raveling not only provided security at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s
famous "I Have a Dream Speech" in 1963, but after Dr. King delivered the speech
he gave a printed copy of the speech to Raveling. Raveling donated the
copy to Villanova in 2021.
Raveling joined Lefty Driesell's staff at Maryland in 1969, thus becoming the first Black coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
In 1972, Washington State hired Raveling as head coach, and he became the first Black coach in the Pacific-8 (Pac-8) Conference (the conference is now the Pac-12). Raveling guided the Cougars to the NCAA tournament in 1980, the school's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1941. He was the UPI Pac-8 Coach of the Year in 1976, the Pac-8 Coach of the Year in 1976 (shared) and 1983, and the runner-up for the AP's national Coach of the Year award in 1983.
Raveling then moved on to Iowa, leading the Hawkeyes to a pair of NCAA Tournament berths (1985, 1986). He was an assistant coach to Bobby Knight for the 1984 Team USA squad that won Olympic gold, and he was an assistant coach to John Thompson for the 1988 Team USA squad that won Olympic bronze (the last time Team USA was comprised entirely of college players).
Raveling coached USC from 1986-1994, winning the Kodak National Coach of the Year award (1992), the Basketball Weekly Coach of the Year award (1992), and the CBS/Chevrolet National Coach of the Year award (1994). On September 25, 1994, his jeep was blindsided in a collision, and Raveling suffered nine broken ribs, a fractured pelvis, a fractured clavicle, and a collapsed lung. He was just 57 years old, but he retired from coaching to focus on his lengthy rehabilitation program. Raveling finished with a 335-293 career record in 22 seasons, including six NCAA Tournament appearances and five 20-win seasons. He had a losing record in his first season at each of the three schools that he coached, and he had a winning record in his last season at each of those three schools.
After he returned to health, Raveling worked as a basketball analyst for CBS and Fox Sports, served as the Director for International Basketball for Nike, and authored several books. His most recent book (published in 2025), What You're Made For, distills a lifetime of wisdom into chapters such as "To Be a Trailblazer" and "To Serve Others." Raveling's 2013 conversation/interview with Hubie Brown is a master class of basketball--and life--wisdom, and is essential viewing.
Labels: Dr. Martin Luther King, George Raveling, Hubie Brown, Iowa, Michael Jordan, Nike, Olympics, USC, Villanova, Washington State
posted by David Friedman @ 11:22 PM
Ray Allen's Interests and Contributions Extend Far Beyond the Basketball Court
Ray Allen is renowned for his three point shooting prowess and he will long be remembered for the clutch three pointer
that enabled the Miami Heat to push the 2013 NBA Finals to seven games en route to
capturing their second consecutive championship--but he is a lot more than just a guy who scores prolifically from long distance: Allen is a well-rounded person who continually strives to educate himself and educate those around him. He has made it an annual personal tradition to visit the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., bringing along teammates, team personnel and others. In
a 2010 interview conducted by Aleisa Fishman, Allen explained why he first went to the U.S. Holocaust Museum and why he continues to do so:
My first visit to the Holocaust Museum, I had just gotten to the NBA. And I heard about it. I've always been, you know, a guy that's gone to
museums. My coach in college was very much into taking us places and teaching us things while we traveled throughout the course of the season. And so, I just picked up that. When I traveled, I always went to places, cities. I'd try to figure out what different cities had to
offer. And I just remember the first time I went there, it being so
profound. And it's a lesson for everybody. That's something that stayed
true to me. And I've been four or five times. And every time I go, I see something different. And when I come back, I always take somebody
different.
I brought a friend of mine and he was an older black gentleman. And he,
you know, he walked through and he had so many questions, and he
couldn't believe that some of the things that he saw had taken place.
And after we got done, we walked out and the first thing he questioned
was, "What about slavery?" He was an older gentleman but, you know, it
kind of made him angry, because he wanted to see something like that
about the plight of the black people in America, about slavery. And I
told him…I said, "This is about slavery." This is about people being
enslaved and people being annihilated. And this is a lesson, so slavery
doesn't happen anymore, so people don't believe that they're better than
the next person. This is all about slavery. It just so happens to be
spoken through the words of the Jewish people in the Holocaust, people
who the Nazis tried to annihilate.
You take any person through the Museum, based on their experiences and
their life, they're going to see different things. And they're going to
talk about the things they want to talk about. But I think the most
important thing is communication. That's a powerful, powerful tool, just
talking about it and trying to understand it, and learn from it, and
grow.
Allen is also playing an integral role in the NBA's celebration of Black History Month;
he helped to design a shooting shirt that the Heat will wear during selected games in February. The shooting shirt features images of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Bill Russell and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. Allen explained, "It's another celebration that we can improve on to try to create
greater awareness, talking about where we've come as a people, as a
league and as a country. It's an opportunity to talk about
a great leader of the past, but even Martin Luther King, what he fought
for was civil liberties not just for black people, but for all people.
So to me, Black History Month has always been about equality of all
people."
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/01/17/3877230/heats-allen-designs-shirt-for.html#storylink=cpy
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/01/17/3877230/heats-allen-designs-shirt-for.html#storylink=cpy
He added, "It's not just about the black players in the league. It's about where we've come, what we've fought for, equality amongst
all races, ethnicities, cultures and groups."
Labels: Bill Russell, Dr. Martin Luther King, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Holocaust Museum, Miami Heat, NBA, Ray Allen
posted by David Friedman @ 6:29 PM
Bing, Erving Honored During Pregame Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Ceremonies
Basketball Hall of Famers Dave Bing and Julius Erving are this year's recipients of
the National Civil Rights Museum Sports Legacy Award. They were honored during a ceremony prior to Detroit's 87-79 win at Memphis, culminating the Seventh Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Game and Celebration. Both men delivered brief remarks without notes to the crowd of 17,483 fans and a national television audience watching on TNT. Here is a transcript of what they said:
Bing: "I'd like to take the opportunity to express my sincere gratitude and thanks for the city of Memphis and in honor of Dr. King. This award means much more than I can express. Thank you so much and I look forward to watching the game."
Erving: "Thank you, David (Aldridge, the master of ceremonies). Thank you ladies and gentlemen. It really is a pleasure to be back here in Memphis, a city that I visited many times during my ABA days. My reflections of 40 years ago when Dr. King was assassinated center around being a senior in high school and coming out and experiencing riots and all kinds of things that were problematic of our society at that time. But I made a dedication at that time that I hopefully could be a change agent and that event, that sacrifice on his part and the spirit of it, as we see, has been continued and has come to full fruition with the election of Barack Obama as the President of the United States. So, I say that receiving this award is something that I am going to hold in high reverence for the rest of my days and I graciously accept it on behalf of my family. Thank you."
Labels: Dave Bing, Dr. Martin Luther King, Julius Erving
posted by David Friedman @ 10:55 PM
