NEW YORK — Former University of Iowa head men’s basketball coach, George Raveling, was honored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Foundation with the Court of Honor award June 22, at the Court of Honor Gala held in New York.
The NABC Foundation Court of Honor Gala was developed to bring recognition to an individual and the game of basketball while raising foundation awareness and important financial support to the NABC Foundation and its charitable and educational programs. During the Gala, guests joined the basketball community in presenting the Court of Honor Award. The Award is presented to an individual, businessman, educator, etc., who has roots in college basketball, values those roots in the game and has gone on to distinguish himself in his profession, exhibiting the highest standards for leadership.
Raveling is the current Director of International Basketball for Nike. He served as an assistant coach at his alma mater Villanova (1963-69) and then Maryland (1970-72) where he helped lead the 1970-71 Terrapins to an undefeated regular season. As a head coach, Raveling led Washington State (1972-83) to two NCAA tournament appearances and Iowa (1983-86) to back-to-back 20-win seasons and a pair of NCAA Tournament berths. Raveling coached the Hawkeyes to 54 victories in three seasons. He also took USC (1986-94) to two NCAA appearances and was named Kodak National Coach of the Year (1992), Basketball Weekly Coach of the Year (1992), Black Coaches Association Coach of the Year (1992) and CBS/Chevrolet National Coach of the Year (1994).
In 1984 and 1988, Raveling served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic teams. Raveling was the first African-American coach in the ACC and PAC-8 (now the PAC-12). He is not only known for making history by breaking down racial barriers as a coach, but also was a part of history when in 1963 he received the original copy of the Martin Luther King Jr., “I Have a Dream” speech.
Raveling was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 2015.