Washington State Athletics Hall of Fame Basketball Coach George Raveling passed away yesterday (Tue) morning at the age of 88.
One of the winningest coaches in WSU men’s basketball history, Raveling led the Cougars from 1972-1983. During his 11 years, Raveling guided Wazzu to two NCAA tournaments, one in 1980 and the other in 1983. WSU’s 1980 appearance was the first for the Cougars since finishing second in 1941. Raveling finished his WSU career with 167 wins and had seven winning seasons, including five straight from the 1975-76 campaign through the 1980 season.
When Washington State hired Raveling in 1972 to lead its men’s basketball program, Raveling became the first African-American head basketball coach in Pac-12 (then Pac-8) Conference history. He also possesses one of the most important documents in American history, Martin Luther King’s original notes from his “I Have a Dream” speech, part of a massive collection of items Raveling has accumulated during his life.
Raveling won numerous coach-of-the-year honors during his Cougar career, including the 1976 UPI Pac-8 Conference and 1983 Pac-10 Conference Coach of the Year. While at WSU Raveling was an assistant coach for the USA team at the 1979 Pan American Games and the West Regional coach at the 1979 U.S. Olympic Sports Festival.
Raveling continued his collegiate coaching career after leaving WSU in 1983, first at the University of Iowa, then at the University of Southern California. In 1984 he served as an assistant coach for the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team. The Washington, D.C. native coached at his alma mater Villanova and at Maryland before taking over at WSU.
The author of two books on basketball and rebounding, Raveling was honored by WSU with his induction into WSU Athletics Hall of Fame and the Pac-10 Basketball Men’s Hall of Honor, both in 2004. In 2019, Raveling’s contributions to Washington State University were recognized further as his name was immortalized on a banner that hangs in the rafters of Beasley Coliseum.
