Raveling Offered USC Job : Iowa Coach Spurns Bid From Houston

Iowa Coach George Raveling has been offered the USC basketball coaching job, according to sources in the Midwest, and is seriously considering accepting it.

Tuesday, Raveling was in Houston to be interviewed for the job that became vacated with the retirement of Guy Lewis. But Raveling has reportedly rejected the University of Houston offer.

There is a possibility that Raveling will be named the USC coach as soon as Thursday. According to sources, he has received a “very attractive” offer and, in turn, is attracted to the Los Angeles area.

USC Athletic Director Mike McGee could not be reached for comment.

Raveling, the former Washington State coach, had seven years ago shown interest in the USC job after Bob Boyd resigned. Stan Morrison was hired, though, and coached until resigning two weeks ago to become an associate athletic director at the school.

Four USC freshman players--Tom Lewis, Rich Grande, Bo Kimble and Hank Gathers--met with McGee last Friday and said they wanted him to hire a local coach such as Pepperdine’s Jim Harrick, UC Irvine’s Bill Mulligan, or Loyola Marymount’s Paul Westhead.

Although not fitting that mold, Raveling was a Pacific 10 coach for 11 years before taking the Iowa job before the 1983-84 season and has recruited in the Los Angeles area.

It is believed that Raveling, an extroverted coach who also wrote a newspaper column while at Washington State, is interested in the USC job because big-city life attracts him. His head coaching jobs at Washington State and Iowa have been in the rural areas of Pullman, Wash., and Iowa City.

Raveling became the Pac-10’s first black coach in 1972 and had an overall record of 167-136 at Washington State, including a 23-7 mark in 1982-83. After that 23-7 season, he replaced Lute Olson (now at Arizona) as Iowa’s coach and has had records of 13-15, 21-11 and 20-12 with the Hawkeyes, including NCAA tournament appearances the last two seasons. This season, his team lost to North Carolina State in the first round.

Raveling is a former Villanova player who was also an assistant coach at his alma mater and at Maryland.