George Raveling Appreciation Thread

H

hawkeyz10

Well-Known Member
If not for George Raveling, Dev Marble would not be wearing a Hawkeye jersey today. Thank you, George!!! You continue to make a positive difference on our basketball program. I hope you are still rocking your sweat suit on the sidelines.
 
What a basketball dynasty that could have been created if somehow Raveling had remained as an assistant coach in charge of recruiting and Mr. Davis was HC. Never could have/would have happened but one can always dream, can't they? George simply didn't feel like he fit in Iowa City; too bad.
 
yeah, LawV - that woudl have been an unbelievable combo. Mr. Davis in charge of all aspects, except Raveling in charge of recruiting and rebounding guru.
 
LawVHawk said:
What a basketball dynasty that could have been created if somehow Raveling had remained as an assistant coach in charge of recruiting and Mr. Davis was HC. Never could have/would have happened but one can always dream, can't they? George simply didn't feel like he fit in Iowa City; too bad.
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George was prolly right. Too bad. Coulda built a dynasty here. Oh, well.......woulda shoulda coulda
 
LawVHawk said:
What a basketball dynasty that could have been created if somehow Raveling had remained as an assistant coach in charge of recruiting and Mr. Davis was HC. Never could have/would have happened but one can always dream, can't they? George simply didn't feel like he fit in Iowa City; too bad.
Click to expand...

Davis had GR's recruits for 3 seasons. Had a great first season. Even that could be chalked up to underachieving given that Iowa had such a talented team that season. Still had the core of that team for two more years. All 3 seasons can really be described by one word: Underachieving.


1986-1987: 30-5 (14-4, 3rd in B10) 3-1 in NCAA
1987-1988: 24-10 (12-6 3rd in B10) 2-1 in NCAA (blown out by AZ in Sweet 16)
1988-1989: 23-10 (10-8 4th in B10) 1-1 in NCAA
 
LawVHawk said:
What a basketball dynasty that could have been created if somehow Raveling had remained as an assistant coach in charge of recruiting and Mr. Davis was HC. Never could have/would have happened but one can always dream, can't they? George simply didn't feel like he fit in Iowa City; too bad.
Click to expand...

Really! George simply felt like he didn't fit? Did I read that correctly?

I have no idea how old you are, but I remember George's days very well and George could do nothing right. Raveling took the high road out of Iowa City and he never looked backed. He left a program loaded for the next level, how many coaches walk away from a situation like that??


I will leave you with this snippet:

He was also an excellent recruiter. Quietly, Raveling put together a very talented team. "When we recruited the kids, we told them we were building towards the NCAA championship," he said. "I didn't think it was an impossible dream then and now."

But if that dream should come true, Raveling won't be a part of it. Last March, he left Iowa to become the coach at Southern California. He knew then he was leaving a lot of talent behind. But the choice was an easy one. "A lot of people told me to stay one more year," Raveling said. "But I needed more in my life than my profession. I just wasn't happy. I needed an urban environment. I needed a change. I have no regrets at all."

Raveling refuses to say if race was a factor in his decision. Others who know him say it was. "Iowa City is a college town, and everything there was fine," said one friend. "But once you get 10 miles outside of town, it changes. People said some cruel things."

Specifically, they were quoted as saying some cruel things in a newspaper story written last March by a reporter from Seattle. When a local paper reprinted the story, that, many people feel, was the last straw for Raveling. Off he went.


 
Xerxes said:
Davis had GR's recruits for 3 seasons. Had a great first season. Even that could be chalked up to underachieving given that Iowa had such a talented team that season. Still had the core of that team for two more years. All 3 seasons can really be described by one word: Underachieving.


1986-1987: 30-5 (14-4, 3rd in B10) 3-1 in NCAA
1987-1988: 24-10 (12-6 3rd in B10) 2-1 in NCAA (blown out by AZ in Sweet 16)
1988-1989: 23-10 (10-8 4th in B10) 1-1 in NCAA
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1989-90: 12-16 (4-14) 8th I believe
 
1hawkeye1 said:
George was prolly right. Too bad. Coulda built a dynasty here. Oh, well.......woulda shoulda coulda
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George was clearly a racist, he didn't like all the white people. <waiting for someone to overreact>

I'm not sure about the dynasty. He was 106-105 career.
 
hawkdrummer1 said:
George was clearly a racist, he didn't like all the white people. <waiting for someone to overreact>

I'm not sure about the dynasty. He was 106-105 career.
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and so it starts.. I was waiting for this type of post..

So now I have got to ask since he was a clear racist, give me examples?
 
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HawkPrdatr40 said:
Really! George simply felt like he didn't fit? Did I read that correctly?

I have no idea how old you are, but I remember George's days very well and George could do nothing right. Raveling took the high road out of Iowa City and he never looked backed. He left a program loaded for the next level, how many coaches walk away from a situation like that??


I will leave you with this snippet:

He was also an excellent recruiter. Quietly, Raveling put together a very talented team. "When we recruited the kids, we told them we were building towards the NCAA championship," he said. "I didn't think it was an impossible dream then and now."

But if that dream should come true, Raveling won't be a part of it. Last March, he left Iowa to become the coach at Southern California. He knew then he was leaving a lot of talent behind. But the choice was an easy one. "A lot of people told me to stay one more year," Raveling said. "But I needed more in my life than my profession. I just wasn't happy. I needed an urban environment. I needed a change. I have no regrets at all."

Raveling refuses to say if race was a factor in his decision. Others who know him say it was. "Iowa City is a college town, and everything there was fine," said one friend. "But once you get 10 miles outside of town, it changes. People said some cruel things."

Specifically, they were quoted as saying some cruel things in a newspaper story written last March by a reporter from Seattle. When a local paper reprinted the story, that, many people feel, was the last straw for Raveling. Off he went.
Click to expand...


So what was his experience like in Pullman, Wa.?
 
I remember my dad saying he used to see him quite a bit in Great Midwestern at lunch time. I don't think it was totally a race thing. Raveling wanted to walk around downtown to grab coffee or lunch. He was a single guy in his forties living in Iowa City. He was also one of the five most recognizable people in the state. Not easy to stroll around town or have dinner by yourself or try to meet a woman.

Pretty different experience than for Stringer, who was married and had kids and was instantly part of the community.
 
storminspank said:
So there's no chance Devyn would have come to Iowa if his dad hadn't?
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I don't believe Dev would have come to Iowa if not for Roy Sr. having roots here. My guess is if Roy Sr. had gone to Michigan or Minnesota or anywhere else, Dev would not have any reason to consider Iowa. Remember, Lick is the one was coaching when dev committed to Iowa.
 
George Raveling era

When Lute Olson left for Arizona, George Raveling came to Iowa from Washington State University. Highly regarded for his ability to recruit, Raveling brought in Michigan high school stars B.J. Armstrong, Bill Jones, and Roy Marble, Springfield's Lanphier High School teammates Ed Horton and Kevin Gamble, as well as USC transfer Gerry Wright, and Les Jepsen, all of whom would go on to play in the NBA. During Raveling's three years with the program (1983–84 through 1985–86), the Hawkeyes made two trips to the NCAA tournament, losing in the first round on both occasions. Raveling left after the 1985–1986 season to take the head coaching position at USC.
 
HawkPrdatr40 said:
Really! George simply felt like he didn't fit? Did I read that correctly?

I have no idea how old you are, but I remember George's days very well and George could do nothing right. Raveling took the high road out of Iowa City and he never looked backed. He left a program loaded for the next level, how many coaches walk away from a situation like that??


I will leave you with this snippet:

He was also an excellent recruiter. Quietly, Raveling put together a very talented team. "When we recruited the kids, we told them we were building towards the NCAA championship," he said. "I didn't think it was an impossible dream then and now."

But if that dream should come true, Raveling won't be a part of it. Last March, he left Iowa to become the coach at Southern California. He knew then he was leaving a lot of talent behind. But the choice was an easy one. "A lot of people told me to stay one more year," Raveling said. "But I needed more in my life than my profession. I just wasn't happy. I needed an urban environment. I needed a change. I have no regrets at all."

Raveling refuses to say if race was a factor in his decision. Others who know him say it was. "Iowa City is a college town, and everything there was fine," said one friend. "But once you get 10 miles outside of town, it changes. People said some cruel things."

Specifically, they were quoted as saying some cruel things in a newspaper story written last March by a reporter from Seattle. When a local paper reprinted the story, that, many people feel, was the last straw for Raveling. Off he went.
Click to expand...

What part of my comment that he "simply didn't feel like he fit in Iowa City" contradicts anything in bold you so hastily and haughtily posted above?

I'm old enough to have attended Lute Olson-coached Iowa games as an adult. I'm older than dirt. I do remember Raveling coming in for a lot of criticism about his training methods, his comments about his players, his game management and the sweatsuits he wore during games. Most of that didn't bother me except for some of his coaching decisions; I'm not the only one who wondered about his substitution patterns and why he would pull a player just as he was getting hot from the floor.

But that comes with being the HC of a Division 1 program. If you don't like the occasional hot seat, if you don't like the criticism, if you don't like the fishbowl life that naturally comes with getting paid very well to lead a top college basketball program, you don't belong there.
 
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HawkPrdatr40 said:
That is fine if you believe what you wrote to be fact, that he left simply because he thought didn't fit. Raveling statement above was to take the high road, the fact is he was treated like trash at Iowa.
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Enlighten us: how exactly was he "treated like trash" at Iowa?
 
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