COLLEGE PARK, Md.: Lefty Driesell, the Hall of Fame coach whose folksy drawl belied a fiery on-court docket demeanor that put Maryland on the faculty basketball map and enabled him to rebuild a number of struggling packages, died Saturday. He was 92.
Driesell died at his house in Virginia Beach, Virginia, his household mentioned.
Maryland deliberate to honor Driesell with a second of silence earlier than its sport in opposition to No. 14 Illinois later Saturday. The college mentioned the staff would put on throwback uniforms from the Nineteen Seventies beforehand worn on Jan. 21, when the Terrapins honored Driesell with an “Ode to Lefty.”
Driesell completed with 786 victories over elements of 5 a long time and was the primary coach to win greater than 100 video games at 4 NCAA Division I faculties. He began at Davidson in 1960 earlier than bringing Maryland into nationwide prominence from 1969-86, a keep that ended with the cocaine-induced demise of All-American Len Bias.
Driesell then gained 5 common-season convention titles over 9 seasons at James Madison and completed with a profitable run at Georgia State from 1997 to 2003.
“His contributions to the game go way beyond wins and losses, and he won a lot,” former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski mentioned after Driesell lastly made the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018. “It’s an honor he’s deserved for a long time.”
Driesell launched the faculty basketball custom often called Midnight Madness on Oct. 15, 1971. At three minutes after midnight on the primary day of follow as sanctioned by the NCAA, Driesell had his gamers take a compulsory mile run on the observe contained in the Maryland soccer stadium.
The lighting was supplied by the headlights of some vehicles parked at one finish of the stadium. The motivation got here from Driesell’s prodding and the estimated 800 college students who gathered to look at the unpublicized occasion.
“I’ve done a lot of crazy things to get attention, but that wasn’t one of them,” Driesell mentioned years later. “I was just trying to get an early jump on practice. I had no idea what it was going to lead to.”
Driesell additionally helped knock down racial boundaries within the faculty sport. He made George Raveling the primary Black coach within the Atlantic Coast Conference by hiring him as an assistant in 1969. Driesell’s effort to recruit Charlie Scott to play at Davidson helped make the longer term NBA star turn out to be the primary African American scholarship athlete to attend North Carolina.
Scott initially dedicated to Davidson earlier than selecting UNC however acknowledged that Driesell paved the way in which.
“I think if there had never been a Lefty Driesell, there would never have been a Charlie Scott attending North Carolina,” mentioned Scott, who joined the Hall of Fame in 2018 with Driesell. “My commitment to go to Davidson really opened up all the other schools in the recruiting process.”
Race performed no think about Driesell’s effort to recruit one of the best gamers.
“He did so many great things in marketing the game and opened up so many doors for many African Americans players and coaches like myself,” mentioned Len Elmore, who performed for Driesell at Maryland from 1971-74. “Lefty was a trailblazer and an innovator.”
Walking onto the court docket at Maryland to the tune of “Hail to the Chief,” Driesell would thrust each arms within the air — two fingers prolonged on every hand with the V for victory signal — amid a standing ovation. On the sideline, he would usually stomp his foot to indicate his displeasure with a name, and if issues bought actually intense he would peel off his sports activities jacket, toss it to the ground and trample it.
Yet, Driesell not often raised his voice off the court docket and had a knack for charming the dad and mom of potential recruits with an assuring, homespun fashion that smacked of his Southern roots.
“He had a big personality, was an excellent recruiter and he helped put Maryland basketball on the map,” mentioned Brad Davis, a guard at Maryland from 1974-77 earlier than heading to the NBA.
Driesell was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007, however his entry into the Naismith shrine proved extra elusive. He was a finalist 4 occasions earlier than receiving the mandatory 75% vote three months after his 86th birthday. The lengthy snub, many speculated, got here as a result of Driesell was pressured to resign at Maryland in 1986 after Bias overdosed on cocaine in a campus dorm after being drafted by the Boston Celtics.
Maryland needed to pay Driesell for the remainder of his 10-yr contract as a result of it may discover no wrongdoing on his half. But his departure meant Driesell by no means bought to meet the declaration he made upon taking up in College Park — he would make Maryland the “UCLA of the East.”
Under Driesell, the Terrapins didn’t benefit from the success John Wooden had at UCLA. Maryland failed to succeed in the Final Four throughout his 17-yr keep, however the Terps gained or shared 5 ACC common-season titles and captured the league event in 1984 — on Driesell’s fifth journey to the ultimate.
Looking again on his “UCLA of the East” boast, Driesell quipped: “I was kind of drunk or something when I said it. But we were pretty good and we wound up pretty good. We had a lot of great players.”
Before Driesell arrived at Maryland, the staff was an ACC doormat and had bother drawing followers to outdated Cole Field House. After going 13-13 in Driesell’s first season, the Terps introduced their resurgence on Jan. 9, 1971, with a 31-30 additional time upset of No. 2 South Carolina at house. There was no shot clock then, so Driesell ordered his gamers to sluggish the sport to a crawl in opposition to a staff that had defeated Maryland 96-70 simply three weeks earlier.
One of Driesell’s finest groups by no means made it to the postseason. In the 1974 ACC championship sport, the fourth-ranked Terrapins misplaced in additional time to No. 1 North Carolina State 103-100 throughout a time when solely the convention champion superior to the NCAA Tournament.
Every week later, a Maryland staff that includes future NBA starters Tom McMillen, John Lucas and Elmore turned down a bid to the NIT, which it had gained two years earlier. N.C. State went on to win the 1974 NCAA title, ending UCLA’s seven-yr streak as nationwide champions.
“Lefty’s team that year,” Krzyzewski mentioned, “was probably as good as 20 national champions.”
Born on Christmas Day in 1931, Charles Grice Driesell grew up in Norfolk, Virginia. He was a star basketball participant for Granby High in Norfolk earlier than attending Duke.
After working on the Ford Motor Co., Driesell took a job as a junior varsity soccer and basketball coach at Granby in 1954 after convincing his spouse, Joyce, that he may face up to the pay minimize by additionally promoting encyclopedias. He finally was promoted to move coach of the varsity staff earlier than shifting to Newport News High, the place he gained 57 straight video games.
In 1960, he took a job at Davidson, which was coming off an eleventh consecutive dropping season. He went 9-14 in his debut, one in every of solely two occasions over a complete season during which he would end with a dropping report as a school coach.
Driesell gained three Southern Conference tournaments and 5 common-season championships at Davidson over 9 years and went 176-65 earlier than being employed at Maryland. He gained 348 video games with the Terrapins, an extended-lasting college report that was lastly damaged in 2006 by Gary Williams.
Williams gained the NCAA title in 2002. When he bought house, a word from Driesell was ready for him. It learn: “Gary, YOU have made Maryland the UCLA of the East. Congratulations.”
After leaving Maryland, Driesell was employed in 1988 by James Madison, a small Virginia college that completed 10-18 in 1987. He went 16-14 in his first yr, 20-11 in his second season and led the Dukes to 4 straight NIT appearances earlier than going to the NCAA Tournament in 1994.
Driesell compiled a 159-111 report at James Madison and loved continued success at Georgia State. The Panthers had been 29-5 in 2000-01 and upset Wisconsin within the opening spherical of the NCAA Tournament. Two years later, he retired within the early phases of his forty first season with a profession report of 786-394. At the time, he ranked fourth in NCAA Division I wins, behind solely Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp and Bob Knight.
Finally, at age 71, the person affectionately identified by many because the Ol’ Left-hander had sufficient.
“I’m just tired and I’ve got this bad cold and I’m just going to retire,” Driesell mentioned. “I’m looking forward to not having a job. I can get up when I want to and do what I want to.”
Driesell is survived by 4 youngsters. While at Duke, Driesell eloped with Joyce and bought married in December 1952. She died in 2021.
The couple’s solely son, Chuck, performed for the Terrapins underneath his father from 1981-85 and have become an assistant to his father at James Madison. He was employed because the coach at The Citadel in 2010 and was fired after 5 dropping seasons.
While serving to his father at James Madison, Chuck Driesell realized the pains of teaching.
“Dad gave me a lot of responsibility, and we worked hard,” he mentioned. “As a son and as a player, I’m not sure I understood how hard he worked. I figured it out pretty quickly.”
___
This story has been corrected to indicate that Maryland gained the NCAA title in 2002, not 2006, and that Driesell was not survived by his spouse. She died in 2021.
___
AP faculty basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)
