The Choice Was Clear in the End : USC: Raveling had a chance to become a national basketball executive, but the desire to coach has kept him with the Trojans.

It seemed an appropriate time last spring for George Raveling to step aside as USC’s basketball coach.

He had spent 30 years in the coaching profession, he had restored the Trojan program and had been offered the prestigious post of executive director of the National Assn. of Basketball Coaches.

“I felt I had had a good run (as a coach) and thought it was time to pass the baton to a younger man,” Raveling said. “I had accomplished what I was brought to USC to do. I was so sure I was going to accept the administrative post that I was already looking for a place to live in Kansas City.”

Instead, though, Raveling, 55, is back, trying to rebuild a USC team that lost the multitalented Harold Miner and two other stars from a squad that posted a 24-6 record and finished a surprising second in the Pacific 10 Conference.

Moreover, he returns after having been the choice of fellow coaches as coach of the year. He is also being mentioned as a candidate to succeed Mike McGee, who recently went to South Carolina, as the Trojans’ athletic director.

Raveling said he changed his mind largely because of the influence of several coaches he admires and some of his players.

Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski told Raveling: “You are needed as a coach in college basketball. Stay in coaching.”

Several players reminded Raveling that he had promised them he would be at USC for their college careers.

“I thought it over and decided I enjoyed being close to the kids,” Raveling said. “My enthusiasm for coaching remains strong. It’s because of these feelings that I never thought about being the athletic director.

“I’ve had several people tell me I would be the best candidate. Although I don’t consider myself a candidate, I would certainly talk to the president (Stephen B. Sample) or Pat Haden (the former Trojan quarterback who is heading a search committee). But I have not been contacted.

“Mike McGee will be a hard act to follow. He may have rubbed a few people wrong, but he did a great job as administrator.”

There are several factors that help Raveling, who began as an assistant at his alma mater, Villanova, in 1962, keep up his enthusiasm for coaching.

“For one thing, the game keeps changing,” he said. “The three-point basket has brought about an overwhelming change. Another thing, you get a new group to work with every four years. That’s an advantage over the pros. Pat Riley’s act grew old with the Lakers.”

Although the three-point basket has been a basic part of the Trojan offense the last couple of seasons, Raveling was a late convert. In one of his first comments after the NCAA had approved it, he said, “It’s a grave mystery how this thing was implemented. It sounds to me like somebody was scrounging around the back lots at Disneyland and found some old notes and said, ‘Gee, let’s try this.’ What we’re doing now is awarding points on degree of difficulty. It’s going to be like diving.”

He says now: “I was very anti-three-pointers. I think many of the older coaches still are. But look what it’s done for our game. It used to be that if you trailed by eight points with two minutes left, the game was over. Now you still have a chance. It has really enhanced the game. It his opened up the game, it has made it a 94-foot game instead of half court.

“It has made the full-court defense the wave of the future. It has also made the three-guard setup useful. You need more quickness. This is my third season using three guards, and I’m sure it is a trend of the future. It goes a long way in preventing a slowdown game. You don’t see much of that anymore.”

Raveling’s feelings have changed so much that the Trojans are becoming the top exponent of the three-point shot.

There also has been a major evolution in coaching since Raveling began.

“The biggest change has been in discipline,” he said. “Years ago, the kids identified with discipline, both by the coach, as well as parents. There were very few single-parent families in those days. There was more definition in their life. They never questioned a coach.

“Now a coach must be more flexible, more communicative. Coaching is a small part of what a coach has to do.

“We are dealing with better athletes and you can’t afford to be as structured. With poor talent, more of a set system was needed. But with these athletes of today, you don’t want them to lose their individualism.”