Legendary Cougar Basketball Coach George Raveling Dies

 George Raveling, arguable one of the most important figure in the history of Washington State Cougar athletics has died. He was 88. 

Raveling was head basketball coach at WSU from 1972-1983.  That included the time that I was there.  I got to interview him when I took the TV class.  

Raveling led the Cougars to two NCAA tournament appearances.  Raveling was also the first African-American coach in what became the Pac 12.

After leaving Pullman, he had coaching stops at Iowa and later USC.

Raveling was reportedly a key player in getting Michael Jordan to sign a deal with NIKE for a brand of basketball shoes, a revolutionary move in the world of athletic apparel. 

He also had the original script for Martin Luther King's speech for the 1963 March on Washington.  Raveling had worked security at the event.

Raveling played basketball at Villanova from 1957-1960.

Raveling was inducted into basketball's Naismith Hall of Fame in 2015.

 

Air--Review Nike Biopic

 I love biopics.  Maybe it's the idea of knowing the ending that makes them so appealing.  

The movie, Air, takes us to a time that to our generation, seems recent, but so incomprehensible. 

Nike, based in Beaverton, Oregon, was not domineering in the world of basketball shoes   It was after all, a running shoe.  The brands, Adidas and Converse, dominated the sport. 

Michael Jordan was a name that could be mentioned in the same breath as players like Sam Bowie and James Worthy, who while awesome in their own right, would not epitomize the sport the way Jordan did. 

Sonny Vaccaro is the marketing director for Nike's basketball division, which was struggling at the time, the was the mid-80s, Symbols of 80s technology and culture are featured throughout the flick. Vaccaro knows that the company needs to sign high profile players to promote the shoe.  He decides to go after one player, a player who had not yet stepped on an NBA court, the player of course was Michael Jordan.  The decision is to market a show around Jordan.  The catchy name, which at the time, sounded more like an airline than a sneaker would be, Air Jordan.

The tough one to fathom was George Raveling.  George was coach of the WSU basketball team when I arrived, one of the first African-American coaches at a major university, his profile in Pullman was extremely high.  I even was able to interview him when taking the TV-news class at WSU. 

I picture Raveling as very cerebral and well spoken. The Raveling that was portrayed in the movie was prone to street slang.  The difference was very unsettling to me.  

Overall, Air works because you don't root necessarily root for Nike, as you root for Vaccaro and his marketing team.  Overall, I enjoyed this movie, which can be seen on Amazon Prime. 

Cougar Men's Basketball Team Beats Huskies

CJ Elleby scored 34 points to lead the Washington State Cougars to a 79-67 win over cross state rival Washington.  The victory ended a 4 game skid in games with the Dawgs. It was especially satisfying after the Cougar football team was beaten by the Huskies in last fall's Apple Cup. 

Legendary Cougar Basketball Coach George Raveling, who coached when I went to school there was honored at the game.  Raveling was the first African American coach in the conference. 

With this win, the Cougs are now 14-10 on the season and 5-6 in Pac 12 play. 

Cougar Basketball Will Honor Coach Raveling

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. 

George Raveling Tapped For Naismith Hall Of Fame

Congratulations to George Raveling for his selection to be in Basketball's Naismith Hall Of Fame.  George was the basketball coach when I was at WSU.   He was the first African-American coach in what was then the Pac-8.  That in it's self is rather amazing, considering it is in maybe the most Conservative area of any of  what was then an all  West Coast conference.  It was a much different world when Raveling assumed the head coaching position at WSU, but he stayed at the school for 11 seasons, which included 2 NCAA tournament appearances.  In addition to his coaching duties, he also wrote a syndicated newspaper column and was a popular banquet speaker.
 Raveling would later leave WSU for other opportunities, a serious accident forced him to step down as USC basketball coach.  He then went to work for NIKE.  Seattle Times columnist Bud Withers wrote a great article on what Raveling brought to WSU, click here.