Whenever someone called George Raveling, he picked up the phone the same way every time.
“How can I help you?” Raveling would respond.
That short question represented who Raveling was as a person. Raveling, a Hall of Fame basketball coach and Villanova basketball alumnus, always attempted to give back on and off the court. He sent large checks to support cancer research, and he also made sure his players got more out of his coaching than just how to play basketball.
Raveling’s story was laid out in the 90-minute documentary Unraveling George. Villanova and Nike came together to host a special screening of the documentary last Wednesday, Jan. 21, in the Connelly Center’s Villanova Room. It was screened directly before the Villanova men’s basketball game against Georgetown, which was also dedicated to Raveling.
The special screening was preceded by a panel discussion made up of former Villanova basketball head coach Jay Wright, the head of Jordan Brand, Larry Miller and the director of Unraveling George, Mike Tollin. The discussion was led by Nike’s head of global communications, Ashley Hoffman.
Raveling died at 88 on Sept. 1, 2025, after a battle with cancer. However, he was able to be interviewed for the documentary and saw its completion.
Tomlin, a Havertown native, grew up following Villanova basketball, and it was a reason that drew him to create the documentary on Raveling. However, the main reason came after Tollin saw Ben Affleck’s Air in 2023. The film followed a fictionalized version of Michael Jordan joining Nike before his rookie season in 1984. Raveling has been credited as the main reason Jordan joined Nike. Jordan himself credited Raveling.
However, the film portrayed Sonny Vaccaro, played by Matt Damon, as the primary reason Jordan signed with the shoe brand.
Tollin decided that he needed to tell the true story along with the rest of Raveling’s life.
“[George and I] decide, we gotta tell the real story,” Tollin said.”We’re going through all these games, and I realize I’m gonna get to tell this story. So that’s a good four or five years. And I grew to know him as a man more than as a coach.”
The documentary follows Raveling’s life, beginning as a child in segregated Washington, D.C. Raveling then attended Villanova, where he was only its seventh colored player, on the East Coast as West Coast college basketball was taking off. He returned to the team as an assistant coach after he graduated.
Various coaches, players and family members were featured in the documentary, including Jordan, the late Jerry West, Wright, Mark Raveling, Charles Barkley and John Calipari.
Tollin connected deeply with Raveling during their time creating the documentary. He recalled a moment between Raveling and himself during the panel discussion.
“‘What can George Raveling do today to make Mike Tollin’s life better?’” Tollin said when he was recalling what Raveling used to answer his calls with. “He was serious, and he meant it, and you better come up with something. And so I said, I have a sister-in-law fighting cancer, and I’m staging a benefit for her, and you haven’t even met her…”
Raveling cut off Tollin before he could finish and asked for his sister-in-law’s address. Days later, Tollin’s sister-in-law received a “generous check” from Raveling for cancer research.
“I’ve made a lot of films, but I never had this kind of relationship,” Tollin said about Raveling.” Every time we talked, at the end of the call, we would say, I love you to each other.”
During Villanova’s 66-51 win over Georgetown, which was themed “Rav Night,” fans were asked to raise newspaper handouts that read, “THANK YOU, COACH.” It was in honor of Raveling’s love for newspapers. At one point in his life, Raveling subscribed to over 80 newspaper publications at once.
Raveling would send article clippings to anyone he thought of when reading them. He would drop off books and newspapers in his player lockers, and that was their reading for the season.
“I think the good thing is, these guys learned who [Raveling] was,” Villanova head coach Kevin Willard said when asked about honoring Raveling. “I asked the whole team before [the game] how many knew, and I think one or two really did. He was a great coach and is a great man, but he really stood for the civil rights movement, and that was his passion, and that’s what I thought he brought so much to what his legacy is all about. He was a trailblazer. He’s a big part of what Villanova is today, that’s for sure.”
Tollin is currently working to make Unraveling George available through streaming to the general public.
