Legendary former college basketball coach Charles Grice “Lefty” Driesell has died at 92 years old.
The news was first announced by former Maryland congressman Tom McMillen, who played for Driesell at Maryland, on Facebook.
Driesell was most known for his time coaching Maryland from 1969-86, and also had head coaching tenures at Davidson, James Madison and Georgia State.
From 1986-88, he also served as Maryland’s assistant athletics director.
Driesell’s college head coaching record was 786–394, and his Terrapins won the NIT in 1972, the ACC Tournament in 1984 and the regular season ACC championship in 1975 and 1980.
“Lefty was responsible for moving Maryland into the modern era in college basketball when he took over in 1969-70,” Maryland coaching legend Gary Williams said “Not just in Cole Field House, but especially in the DMV, he raised the level of college basketball in the area. He did it on a national level, something that was very difficult to do. Lefty will always be remembered as one of the legends of the game.”
Driesell coached four teams to the Elite Eight and four to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
He also won conference coach of the year honors seven times combined at his three other coaching stops.
He is the only coach in NCAA history to have been named Coach of the Year in four different conferences (Southern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference, Colonial Athletic Association, Atlantic Sun Conference).
Driesell was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.
“His contributions to the game go way beyond wins and losses, and he won a lot,” former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said after Driesell finally made the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018. “It’s an honor he’s deserved for a long time.”
Driesell resigned from Maryland in 1986 after small forward Len Bias, who had been selected second overall in the NBA draft by the Celtics, died of a cocaine overdose.
Driesell was accused of instructing assistant coach Oliver Purnell to cover up evidence of drug use at the scene.
“If I told him to clean up the room, I don’t remember it,” Driesell told The Ringer in 2021. “I remember, I think, telling him to go and tell the players to come to my house. I might’ve asked him, ‘Did you clean up the room?’ Or ‘Did you see any drugs?’ But I don’t remember that. I don’t think that.”
“Hey, hold it, hold it,” he continued. “Say I did? So the freak what? He was in the hospital, they were going to find out if he was on drugs. Right? I mean, I never told him to clean out. I don’t think. I don’t know, maybe I did. But I wasn’t trying to hide that he was on drugs. Hey, everybody knew he was—the doctors were going to find out whether he was on drugs. I never told Oliver that, I don’t think. I think I told him to go over there and tell them to come to my house. Ask him.”
Driesell later added, “See, that’s what I don’t like about talking about this! To you or anybody else! I never— I loved Leonard Bias! If I thought he was on drugs, I’d have kicked his ass off the team. And—how the hell do I remember something 35 years ago?”
Other players who starred for Driesell at Maryland included Adrian Branch, Brad Davis, Albert King, Len Elmore, John Lucas and Buck Williams.
“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,” said Len Elmore, who played for Driesell at Maryland from 1971-74. “Lefty was a trailblazer and an innovator.”
Driesell played center at Duke from 1951-54.
— with AP
