Stats fail to capture the impact of the coach known simply by his nickname “Lefty.” Charles Driesell’s glib and charismatic personality left decades of players, opposing coaches and fans with a slew of “Lefty stories.” He leaves the NCAA stage as one of its most colorful characters, the br’er rabbit of college basketball.
“He’s a legend,” Georgia coach Jim Harrick said. “He’s one of the greatest coaches in college basketball history. There’s a reason he’s won 700 games — he’s a good coach. He gives you that, ‘Oh, geez, I’m dumb,’ but he’s sly as a fox.” Harrick should know: He lost to Georgia State the past two seasons.
“His enthusiasm and love for the game are obvious in the fact that he was willing to pursue [head coaching jobs at] James Madison and Georgia State,” said former Virginia coach Terry Holland, Driesell’s first recruit at Davidson. “To take every one of his teams to the NCAA [tournament] is great testament to his enthusiasm and knowledge and ability.”
Driesell tossed off witticisms in a gravelly voice, its Tidewater inflection a carryover from his roots in eastern Virginia. He once called his buttoned-down ACC rival Dean Smith of North Carolina “the only man in history who’s won 800 games and been the underdog in every one of them.”
Driesell, if anything, pumped up his team’s ability to anyone who would listen. His gung-ho personality built an ACC power at Maryland from 1969 to 1986. He still had some of the old fire for Georgia State. This past November, he put on Mickey Mouse ears to complain that the media were ignoring the Panthers. “We ain’t no Mickey Mouse program,” he said.
Longtime Driesell confidants said his brash persona sometimes hurt him, especially when Maryland player Len Bias died and critics made Driesell a large target of blame. His extroverted nature led him to be portrayed at times as a great recruiter but not a good coach.
“His public persona was nothing like him in private,” Holland said. “People who got to know him found that, ‘There’s a lot more to this guy than what I’m reading in the media.’ . . . He always wore his heart on his sleeve, and you always knew where he stood.”
John Feinstein, who covered Driesell’s Maryland team for the Washington Post, called him “one of the giants, right below the Woodens and Smiths and Krzyzewskis and Knights. . . . He should be in the Hall of Fame, and he’s not for two reasons: He never made the Final Four, and Len Bias. They shouldn’t hold the Final Four against him, and while the Bias thing will always be part of his resume, it’s not Lefty’s fault he died.”
– Staff writer Mark Schlabach contributed to this article.
KEY DATES IN DRIESELL’S CAREER
- Dec. 3, 1960: Davidson upsets ACC champion-to-be Wake Forest 65-59. Driesell wins in his first game as coach.
- March 7, 1966: Davidson beats Rhode Island 95-65 in a first-round NCAA tournament game, Driesell’s first NCAA tournament game and the first of Driesell’s 16 NCAA tournament wins.
- March 15, 1969: North Carolina edges Davidson 87-85 in an NCAA regional championship game at College Park, Md. That year, Maryland hires Driesell.
- Dec. 16, 1970: South Carolina player John Ribock hits Driesell during a brawl in a game at Columbia.
- March 25, 1972: Maryland beats Niagara 100-69 to win the NIT and complete a 27-5 season, Maryland’s winningest season until 1999.
- July 12, 1973: Driesell spots a fire, breaks down a door and gets children to safety. He is credited with saving the lives of at least 10 children and later receives the NCAA award of valor.
- March 9, 1974: No. 4 Maryland loses to No. 1 N.C. State 103-100 in overtime in the ACC tournament championship game. Maryland finishes the season ranked No. 4, the best end-of-season ranking for a Driesell-coached team.
- 1983: A woman says Driesell attempted to persuade her to drop allegations of sexual misconduct against a Maryland player. Driesell denies the allegation. The university reprimands Driesell.
- June 19, 1986: Maryland player Len Bias dies of cocaine intoxication two days after the Boston Celtics made him the No. 2 selection overall in the NBA draft. Investigations into Bias’ death reveal that Maryland players were giving short shrift to academics, and a university task force blames the coaches.
- Oct. 29, 1986: Driesell is forced to resign as Maryland’s coach.
- April 6, 1988: James Madison hires Driesell.
- March 17, 1994: James Madison appears in the NCAA tournament, losing 64-62 to No. 3 seed Florida.
- March 26, 1997: Georgia State hires Driesell.
- March 15, 2001: Georgia State upsets No. 6 seed Wisconsin in the NCAA tournament.
- Jan. 3, 2003: Driesell retires.
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