Hall of Fame college basketball coach Charles Grice “Lefty” Driesell, who won 786 games and led four different Division I schools to 100 victories, died Saturday morning. He was 92 years old.
Maryland announced Driesell's death. His grandson, Ty Anderson, Wofford's assistant coach, told the Washington Post that Driesell died at his home in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Driesell coached Division 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 won more games. He made the NCAA Tournament at all four schools and led Maryland and Davidson to the Elite Eight twice each.
He was known as much for his personality as his success on the court, with his big, booming voice, his Virginia Tidewater accent, and his comedic storytelling style.
Driesell was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018, at the age of 86, an honor that seemed long overdue. He came on stage supported by a walker, accompanied by coaches Mike Krzyzewski, John Thompson and George Raveling, and delivered a typically funny, rambling and memorable Driesell speech, often interrupted by laughter from the crowd.
“The left-hander should have arrived years ago,” Krzyzewski said at the time. “His contributions to the game go far beyond wins and losses, and he won a lot. It's a long-deserved honor.”
Driesell was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.
Born December 25, 1931 in Norfolk, Virginia, Driesell, the son of a jeweler, played college baseball at Duke. After having success as a high school coach, he landed his first job as a college head coach in 1960 at Davidson, a college of just 900 students in North Carolina. Driesell led Davidson to four top-10 finishes and a 176-65 record in nine years at the school.
He was recruited to coach Maryland in 1969, and although the school had been to the NCAA tournament only once in 46 years, upon his arrival he made a bold promise to turn the school into the “UCLA of the East.” Driesell never won an NCAA title at Maryland, but he led the Terrapins to a 348-159 record, eight NCAA tournament appearances, an NIT championship, two ACC regular-season titles and a tournament crown. the ACC.
On Saturday afternoon, before the Terrapins faced No. 14 Illinois at home, a moment of silence was held for Driesell.
In honor of Zurdo ✌️ pic.twitter.com/5Ced8ZzQu4
— Maryland Men's Basketball (@TerrapinHoops) February 17, 2024
He is credited with inventing Midnight Madness when he had his players run a mile at Cole Field House at 12:03 a.m. on October 15, 1971, the first legal day of NCAA practice. Two years later, he opened the Field House at midnight and thousands of fans came to watch an open practice.
In 1974, the No. 4 Terrapins played No. 1 NC State for the ACC tournament title in a game considered one of the greatest college basketball games ever played. Eight 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; North Carolina State by David Thompson and Tom Burleson. NC State won 103-100 in overtime, meaning Maryland would not attend the NCAA tournament, which was then only for conference champions.
The following year, the NCAA selection committee decided to add at-large bids, a change known as “The Maryland Rule.”
Driesell's tenure as Maryland's coach ended in 1986 after the death of Len Bias, one of the greatest players in Maryland history. Two days after the two-time ACC Player of the Year was selected by the Boston Celtics with the second pick in the NBA draft, Bias died of a cocaine overdose.
A grand jury investigation cleared Driesell of any wrongdoing, but the coach, who had signed a 10-year contract in 1985, was reassigned to athletic department duties. Driesell left Maryland in 1988 to become James Madison's coach.
“Maryland paid me every penny of that contract for the entire 10 years,” Driesell later said. “If I had done something wrong, they would never have had to pay me.”
At James Madison, Driesell led the Dukes to five Colonial Athletic Association regular-season championships, one tournament championship and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. He went 159-111 in nine seasons at the school. He was fired in 1995 after shocking school officials by saying the next year would be his last.
Driesell moved on to Georgia State, where he compiled a 103-59 record over six seasons before retiring in 2003 midway through his 41st season as head coach.
