By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Though he only spent three seasons as the Iowa men’s basketball coach from 1983 to 1986, and finished with a losing record in his first season with the Hawkeyes, George Raveling still left an indelible mark in Iowa City.

His ability to recruit highly acclaimed prospects was something Iowa never had seen before and hasn’t seen since his abrupt departure.

Point guard B.J. Armstrong, power forward Ed Horton and small forward Roy Marble became Hawkeye legends under head coach Tom Davis.

But it was Raveling who recruited all three players to Iowa, beating out some of the top programs in the country as he so often did as a college head coach.

Most of the players on Iowa’s 1986-87 team that finished 30-5 and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight in Tom Davis’ first season as head coach were recruited by Raveling, who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 88 after battling cancer.

Raveling’s family said Tuesday in a statement that he had “faced cancer with courage and grace.

“There are no words to fully capture what George meant to his family, friends, colleagues, former players, and assistants — and to the world,” the family statement read. “He will be profoundly missed, yet his aura, energy, divine presence, and timeless wisdom live on in all those he touched and transformed.”

Raveling was born in Washington D.C. on June 27, 1937 and he didn’t start playing basketball until the ninth grade.

But once the started playing the game, it became his life’s focus.

Raveling played basketball for Villanova University and was team captain his senior year. He led the Wildcats to consecutive appearances in the National Invitation Tournament in 1959 and 1960 and was then selected by the Philadelphia Warriors in the eighth round (pick 7) of the 1960 NBA draft.

Raveling became an assistant coach at his alma mater Villanova, and then he moved to Maryland in 1969, joining the staff of new head coach Charles “Lefty” Driesell. The hiring of Raveling had historical significance as he became the first African American coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Raveling, who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015, had a career record of 335-293 from 1972-94 at Washington State, Iowa and USC. He had a losing record in his first season at each school before making multiple trips to the NCAA tournament.

Raveling was also on the U.S. Olympic basketball coaching staffs in 1984 and 1988.

It was during the 1984 Olympics in which and he team member Michael Jordan built a relationship.

In addition to helping the 1984 team win the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Raveling also introduced Jordan to Sonny Vaccaro at Nike.

That meeting helped to change the course of history as Jordan would go on to sign a contract with Nike that gave Jordan his own brand, made him extremely wealthy and changed the athletic apparel industry.

And while basketball was the center of Raveling’s life, he was also heavily involved in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s.

Raveling volunteered to work security for the “March on Washington” on Aug. 28, 1963, and was on stage when Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his landmark “I Have A Dream” speech.

Raveling asked King if he could have the speech afterwards. King then handed Raveling the original typewritten pages.

Raveling reportedly was offered more than three million dollars for the speech in 2013, but he declined the offer.

In 2021, he gave the speech to Villanova University, and it is now currently on display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

As for his brief time at Iowa, Raveling reportedly struggled to find happiness away from the court. He was more comfortable and was used to living in an urban environment. So in some ways, life in Iowa City as a black man in the 1980s was a culture shock for Raveling.

He left Iowa for the USC job in 1986, thinking he would be more comfortable living in Los Angeles.

Raveling said he needed more in his life than just his profession.

Raveling had a gift for gab, which helped him relate to players on the recruiting trail.

He also sort of beat to his own drum, like for example, wearing sweat clothes rather than a suit and tie while coaching the Hawkeyes in games.

George Raveling was good for the game of basketball and the game was good for him.

He climbed the coaching ladder at a time when there were few black head coaches in the profession.

But George Raveling was so much more than just a basketball coach. He was a courageous pioneer and a mentor to so many.

He will be missed, but never forgotten.