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Man Michael Jordan Credits With Air Jordan Brand Is Dead At 88

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Gould | Last updated Sep 2, 2025 1:04 PM ET

George Raveling, a former college basketball coach and mentor to Michael Jordan, died at age 88.

Raveling's family posted a statement on his social media account confirming his passing after a battle with cancer.

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

A former player at Villanova, Raveling won 336 games as a men's basketball head coach at Washington State, Iowa, and USC. The three-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.

Raveling helped Michael Jordan join Nike

Raveling was an assistant coach for the United States' Olympic basketball team in 1984. He formed a close bond with Jordan, who credited Raveling as the reason he signed a trail-blazing endorsement deal with Nike upon joining the NBA that year.

"Sonny (Vaccaro) likes to take the credit. But it really wasn’t Sonny, it was actually George Raveling," Jordan told USA Today in 2015. "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.'"

Raveling told his side on The Rich Eisen Show earlier this year. He recalled Jordan insisting he would sign with Adidas, but he took a meeting with Nike in part to appease Raveling.

"That summer, Michael and I were pretty much inseparable," Raveling said. "All during that summer, it dawned on me that he would be an excellent person to be in the Nike family. So I talked to him about it."

Marlon Wayans portrayed Raveling in Air, a 2023 movie about Nike's courtship of Jordan. Raveling said Jordan demanded his mentor's inclusion in the film as one of his stipulations to approve the project.

Basketball world mourns Raveling

The basketball world fondly remembered Raveling when mourning his passing on social media.

"The finest human being, inspiring mentor, most loyal alum and a thoughtful loving friend," former Villanova men's basketball coach Jay Wright wrote. "Coach Raveling lived his life for others. His heart was restless and kind."

"George Raveling has had a profound impact upon the game of basketball, at every level, around the world," ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said. "He served as a dedicated coach, mentor, friend and true guardian of the game for decades. The game lost one of its true icons, and one of its most thoughtful and giving people. RIP Coach Raveling."

"An icon, in every sense of the word," The Athletic's David Aldridge said. "A great, great man. My condolences to his family, which was everyone in basketball, basically."

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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