George Irvine

George Ramsey Irvine (February 1, 1948 – May 8, 2017) was an American professional basketball player and coach. A 6'6" forward, Irvine played collegiately at the University of Washington, where he was a first-team All-Pac-8 selection in 1970. He was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics in the eighth round of the 1970 NBA draft, but never played for his hometown SuperSonics, nor for any other NBA team. Instead, he opted to play for the Virginia Squires, the team that selected him in the American Basketball Association draft. Irvine played for the Squires for five seasons before finishing his playing career with the Denver Nuggets during the 1975–76 season, the ABA's final season prior to the ABA-NBA merger. He later served as a head coach for two NBA teams: the Indiana Pacers, for two stints, and the Detroit Pistons. Irvine was inducted into the Pac-12 Basketball Hall of Honor during the 2012 Pac-12 Conference men's basketball tournament on March 10, 2012. He died on May 8, 2017, at the age of 69, of cancer.