George Raveling Dies at 88, Coach Played Key Role in Michael Jordan Signing with Nike

George Raveling, a Hall of Fame college basketball coach who helped convince Michael Jordan to sign with Nike in 1984, died Monday at the age of 88.

Raveling's death was announced in a statement on his X account, which noted the coach "faced cancer with courage and grace."

"NBA commissioner Adam Silver "George Raveling had an influence on the game of basketball at every level and was a pioneering force behind its global growth," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.

"During his long and impactful tenure at Nike, George traveled the world - mentoring multiple generations of players and coaches and promoting the sport that defined his identity. He broke barriers as a college basketball coach and was a towering voice in our industry."

At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Raveling was an assistant coach for the United States men's basketball team under Bobby Knight. Jordan was part of the team, and in an interview with USA Today (h/t Kurt Helin of NBC Sports) 10 years ago, MJ credited Raveling with pushing him toward Nike:

"In all honesty, I never wore Nike shoes until I signed with Nike. I was a big Adidas, Converse guy coming out of college. Then actually my parents made me go out to [Nike's headquarters] to hear their proposal.

"Prior to all of that, [Nike executive] Sonny [Vaccaro] likes to take the credit, but it really wasn't Sonny, it was actually George Raveling. George Raveling was with me on the 1984 Olympics team. He used to always try to talk to me, 'You gotta go Nike, you gotta go Nike. You've got to try.'"

That turned out to be highly lucrative for both Jordan and Nike, as Sportico's Kurt Badenhausen reported last year that Nike's Jordan Brand was worth $7 billion.

In addition to offering Jordan guidance and helping the U.S. men's basketball team win a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics and silver medal at the 1988 Olympics, Raveling spent 22 seasons as a collegiate head coach at Washington State, Iowa and USC from 1972 to 1994.

Raveling compiled a record of 336-292, winning three Pac-10 Coach of the Year Awards and leading his teams to the NCAA tournament on six occasions.

Born in Washington, D.C., Raveling also played collegiately at Villanova from 1957 to 1960 before serving as an assistant coach at Villanova and Maryland.

After retiring from coaching, Raveling took on the role of Nike's director for international basketball, and he was later inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.