The University of Maryland mourns the loss of an icon. Charles "Lefty" Driesell (Dec. 25, 1931-Feb. 17, 2024) passed away on Saturday, February 17 at the age of 92. Driesell was a legend in the sport who left an indelible mark on Maryland basketball and the college basketball community as a whole.
One of the most legendary and colorful coaches in college basketball, Driesell led the Terps from 1969-86 posting a 348-159 overall record which is second in program history to only Gary Williams. Under Driesell, Maryland reached eight NCAA Tournaments (1973, 1975, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986), won the 1972 NIT Championship title, won the 1984 ACC Tournament Championship, and posted a pair of ACC Regular Season titles. Additionally, Maryland reached the ACC title game six times under Driesell. The Terps were ranked as high as No. 2 nationally in the AP rankings for four consecutive years from 1972-76.
Driesell served as head coach at four different institutions: Davidson (1960-69), Maryland (1969-86), James Madison (1988-96), and Georgia State (1997-03). He held an overall coach record of 786-394 and was named Coach of the Year nine times throughout four different conferences including twice in the ACC with Maryland (1975, 1980).
His 786 victories still ranks 15th all-time among all NCAA Division I coaches and is 23rd overall at all levels of NCAA basketball. He is among 10 coaches all-time to have coached 40 seasons or more along such notables as Adolph Rubb, Mike Krzyzewski, Phog Allen, Ed Diddle, Jim Boeheim, Bob Knight, Jim Calhou, Bob Huggins and Henry Iba. Only Coach Driesell and Cliff Ellis led four different Division I schools to 100 or more wins during their careers.
Driesell was honored in 2018 with induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. That came after his induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007. He was also a member of the Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame, the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, the Southern Conference Hall of Fame, and the Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame. He was awarded the NCAA Award of Valor for helping save lives from a structure fire in 1973 and in 2010, the Lefty Driesell Award for best defensive player in NCAA Division I basketball was created.
He is also credited with generating the idea for the nation's first "Midnight Madness," a tradition that has largely been inherited by almost every college basketball team in the country and still continues to this day. As the legend goes, Driesell held a one-mile run at the track in front of 1,000 fans around then-Byrd Stadium at 12:03 a.m. on October 15, 1971, the first possible day to begin practice.
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