Great Advice From George Raveling

Raveling passed away early this month at 88 after living a life shaped by being in the right place at the right time — and knowing what to do when he got there. As a boy, after losing his father and seeing his mother institutionalized, he found stability at a Catholic boarding school. That path led him to become the first African-American basketball player at Villanova … to meet coaching legend Bobby Knight … to join the U.S. Olympic coaching staff in 1984, where he met a young Michael Jordan’s and helped guide Jordan toward a Nike contract that would change sports, culture, and business forever. But Raveling’s greatest “right place, right time” moment? Standing at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had just finished speaking. Raveling asked for a copy of the speech — and King handed him the original “I Have a Dream” manuscript. A lesson to all of us on how to get the most out of our moments.