George Raveling, a former Nike executive and longtime college basketball coach, died Monday at 88.
The Hall of Fame basketball inductee guided USC men’s basketball from 1986-94, with trips to the NCAA Tournament in 1991 and 1992 and spots in the NIT in 1993 and 1994.
“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,” the Raveling family said in a statement released on social media. “He transitioned peacefully at 88, surrounded by family as well as love, faith and sacred protection.”
Raveling, born in Washington, D.C., played basketball at Villanova University and became head coach at Washington State and Iowa before finishing his coaching career at USC. He was named the NABC Coach of the Year in 1992 and 1994 and coached USC’s all-time leading scorer Harold Miner in 1992.
“Coach Rav was not only a Hall of Fame basketball mind but a tremendous person who paved the way on and off the court,” USC men’s basketball coach Eric Musselman said in a statement on social media. “He will be missed at USC and throughout the basketball community.”
Raveling was a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee in 2015. Two years prior, he had been inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.
Following his retirement from USC in 1994 due to complications from a car accident in Los Angeles that left him with nine broken ribs and a broken collarbone and pelvis, he went on to become Nike’s global basketball sports marketing director.
The 2023 movie “Air” chronicled some of Raveling’s biggest moments with Nike, including advising Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro to sign Michael Jordan to a shoe deal in 1984.
Raveling coached Jordan while serving as an assistant coach under Bob Knight in the 1984 Olympics.
Raveling was the first Black head coach in the ACC and the Pac-8 and, outside of basketball, volunteered as a bodyguard for Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington in 1963. After the civil rights leader had finished addressing the crowd, Raveling asked for and received the original copy of the speech.
“Beyond accolades, he remained a lifelong learner and a kind, beautiful soul,” his family’s statement said, “always finding ways to pour into others and inspire the next generation.”