Hall of Fame coach ‘Lefty’ Driesell passes away at 92
Feb 17, 2024, 09:29 AM ET Hall of Popularity college basketball coach Charles Grice” Lefty”Driesell, who won 786 games while leading four various Division I schools to 100 victories, passed away Saturday early morning. He was 92.
Maryland revealed Driesell’s death. His grand son, Ty Anderson, an assistant coach at Wofford, informed The Washington Post that Driesell passed away at his home in Virginia Beach, Virginia.Driesell coached Department I basketball for 41 seasons– at Davidson, Maryland, James Madison and Georgia State– and when he retired in 2003, only Bob Knight, Adolph Rupp and Dean Smith had actually won more games. He reached the NCAA tournament at all four schools and took Maryland and Davidson to the Elite 8 twice each.He was referred to as much for his character when it comes to his success on the court, with his huge, flourishing voice, his Virginia Tidewater drawl and his comic design of storytelling.Driesell was chosen to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Popularity in 2018, at the age of 86– an honor that appeared long past due.
He came to the stage leaning on a walker, accompanied by coaches Mike Krzyzewski, John Thompson and George Raveling, and gave an usually amusing, rambling, unforgettable Driesell speech, interrupted frequently by laughter from the crowd.Charles Grice “Lefty” Driesell won 786 profession games while leading 4 different Division I schools to 100 triumphes. He was chosen to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018, Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
“Lefty ought to have been in years ago,” Krzyzewski stated at the time. “His contributions to the game go way beyond wins and losses, and he won a lot. It’s an honor he’s deserved for a long period of time.”
Driesell was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Popularity in 2007.
Born Dec. 25, 1931, in Norfolk, Virginia, Driesell, the kid of a jewelry expert, played college ball at Duke. After success as a high school coach, he got his very first college head-coaching task in 1960 at Davidson, a college of just 900 in North Carolina. Driesell led Davidson to four top-10 finishes and a 176-65 record in 9 years at the school.He was recruited to coach Maryland in 1969, and although the school had been to the NCAA competition only as soon as in 46 years, he made the strong guarantee on his arrival that he would turn the school into the “UCLA of the East.” Driesell never ever won an NCAA title at Maryland, but he led the Terrapins to a 348-159 record, eight NCAA competition looks, an NIT championship, 2 ACC regular-season titles and one ACC tournament crown.On Saturday afternoon, before the Terrapins took on No. 14 Illinois in your home, a moment of silence was held for Driesell.In honor of Lefty pic.twitter.com/5Ced8ZzQu4!.?.!— Maryland Men’s Basketball(
@TerrapinHoops)February 17, 2024 He’s credited with inventing Midnight Insanity when he put his players through a 1-mile perform at Cole Field Home at 12:03 a.m. on Oct. 15, 1971, the very first legal day of NCAA practice. Two years later on, he opened the Field Home at midnight and thousands of fans pertained to view an open practice.In 1974, the No. 4 Terrapins played No. 1 NC State for the ACC tournament title in a game that is regarded as one of the greatest college basketball games ever played.
8 of the 14 players who saw action in that game became NBA draft picks. Maryland was led by Len Elmore, John Lucas and Tom McMillen; NC State by David Thompson and Tom Burleson. NC State won 103-100 in overtime, implying that Maryland would not go to the NCAA tournament, which was then for conference champions only.The next year, the NCAA choice committee chose to include at-large bids, a modification known as “The Maryland Rule.”Driesell’s tenure as Maryland coach ended in 1986 after the death of Len Bias, among the best players in Maryland history. 2 days after the two-time ACC player of the year was prepared by the Boston Celtics with the No. 2 choice in
the NBA draft, Bias died of a drug overdose.A grand jury investigation cleared Driesell of any misdeed, but the coach, who had signed a 10-year agreement in 1985, was reassigned to athletic department tasks. Driesell left Maryland in 1988 to become coach at James Madison.
” Maryland paid me every penny of that contract for the whole 10 years, “Driesell later stated.”If I had done something wrong, they never would have had to pay me. “At James Madison, Driesell led the Dukes to 5 Colonial Athletic Association regular-season champions, one tournament championship and a look in the NCAA tournament. He went 159-111 in 9 seasons at the school. He was fired in 1995 after surprising school authorities by stating that the next year would be his last.Driesell moved to Georgia State, where he assembled a 103-59 record over 6 seasons before retiring in 2003 in the middle of his 41st season as a head coach.