On February 9 of this next year, the Washington State Cougars will honor Legendary Coach George Raveling. I know it's cliché, but Raveling put WSU basketball on the map. Raveling was a product of the East Coast, growing up in Washington, DC and going to college at Villanova. He would become assistant coach at Villanova and then Maryland.
In 1972, Raveling was named basketball coach at Washington State University, the first African-American coach in what was then the Pac 8. I can only imagine what a leap of faith it was for a man to cross the entire country to a relatively small and isolated town in Eastern Washington. At the time, black coaches in any level of any sport were very rare.
Raveling, who had a listed number in the Pullman phone book, was the basketball coach when I attended WSU from 1976 to 1981.
Raveling took the Cougars to the NCAA Tournament in 1980 and 1983.
Raveling would later coach at Iowa and then, USC. He retired from coaching after a serious auto accident in 1984.
Raveling has been inducted into both the both Naismith Memorial Hall Of Fame and the College Basketball Hall Of Fame.
Great story Mike. Great news that WSU is honoring this coaching legend.
ReplyDeleteAccoeding to one article I read, he has the original text that MLK used to deliver his "I Have a Dream" speech. He was asked to be an impromptu security person at the podium and simply asked for the text after the speech was delivered.
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