Lefty Driesell

Early life

Driesell was born on December 25, 1931 in Norfolk, Virginia to Frank Driesell, a jeweler who had emigrated from Germany. In the fourth grade, Driesell received the nickname "Lefty" for his left handedness. He attended Granby High School and quickly became a star on the basketball team. Driesell earned the city’s most outstanding player trophy and All-State recognition while leading Granby to the Virginia State Basketball Championship as the state tournament MVP by totaling 59 points in three games. After graduating high school in 1950, Driesell attended college at Duke University on a full ride basketball scholarship from 1950 to 1954. He played on the basketball team there as a center under head coach Harold Bradley. Driesell graduated from Duke with a bachelor's degree in education in 1954.

Coaching career

After college in 1954, Driesell took an office job with Ford Motor Company. Driesell also found time to renew his playing career by joining the Virginia semi-pro ranks, where he once scored 59 points in a single game and earned a tryout with the then Minneapolis Lakers (later Los Angeles Lakers) of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was also given a chance to enter the coaching profession when his prep alma mater offered him its junior varsity position for both football and basketball. After convincing his wife he could offset a significant pay cut by also selling World Book Encyclopedias part-time, he accepted his first coaching assignment and produced back-to-back unbeaten football teams and a city basketball champion in two years as Granby’s JV coach.

Driesell was promoted to varsity basketball coach in 1957. He went 15-5 in his first and only season coaching the Granby varsity before moving to traditional in-state basketball power Newport News High School. At Newport News, Driesell inherited a team in the midst of a winning streak that he would build to 57 straight, a winning streak that is still a Virginia large school prep record. His first Newport News team finished unbeaten and won the Virginia Group I State Championship, ironically beating his old Granby squad with four of his former starters in the finals. His combined varsity record at Granby and Newport News was 97-15.

Davidson

Driesell served as the head coach at Davidson from 1960 to 1969. During his tenure there, his teams won three Southern Conference tournament championships and five regular season championships, and he was named the Southern Conference Sportswriters Association Coach of the Year four consecutive times from 1963 to 1966. Driesell excelled at recruiting at each of his collegiate coaching stops. At Davidson, one of his recruits included Dick Snyder, a first round selection by the St. Louis Hawks. During his successful recruitment of college prospect Don Davidson, Driesell told him, "If you come here, I'll put your name on the front [of your jersey]". During his time at Davidson, NC State head coach Everett Case attempted to lure Driesell to join his own coaching staff as an assistant, to which he replied, "Coach, I got a better team than you got. Why would I do that?"

Maryland

In 1969, he was hired by the University of Maryland. During his introductory press conference, he made the bold statement that he wanted to make Maryland the "UCLA of the East." At that time, UCLA was the nation's dominant college basketball program. While Driesell did not elevate Maryland to UCLA's heights, he did lead the Terrapins to eight NCAA Tournament appearances, a National Invitation Tournament championship, two Atlantic Coast Conference regular season championships, and one Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championship. Maryland also attained a No. 2 Associated Press ranking during four consecutive seasons from 1972 to 1976.

Driesell coached the Maryland Terrapins from 1969 to 1986. During his tenure, he successfully recruited numerous exceptional players, including Tom McMillen, Len Elmore, John Lucas, Albert King, Buck Williams, and Len Bias. In 1974, he signed perhaps the best college prospect of his career, Moses Malone, but Malone chose instead to go to a professional basketball franchise, the Utah Stars. Malone was the first player in the modern era to proceed directly from high school into professional basketball, deciding on the day classes were scheduled to begin.

At Maryland, Driesell began the now nationwide tradition of Midnight Madness. According to longstanding NCAA rules, college basketball teams were not permitted to begin practices until October 15. Driesell traditionally began the first practice with a requirement that his players run one mile in six minutes, but found that the players were too fatigued to practice effectively immediately afterwards. At 12:03 a.m. on October 15, 1971, Driesell held a one-mile run at the track around Byrd Stadium, where a crowd of 1,000 fans had gathered after learning of the unorthodox practice session. The event soon became a tradition to build excitement for the basketball team's upcoming season. Midnight Madness has been adopted by many national programs such as UNC, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State and Duke.

In 1972, Maryland defeated Niagara, 100–69 to secure the National Invitation Tournament championship. Driesell said that the season attained the three goals he had set for the program at the time of his hiring: "national prominence", "national ranking", and "a national championship".

On July 12, 1973, Driesell saved the lives of at least ten children from several burning buildings. He and two other men were surf fishing around midnight in Bethany Beach, Delaware when he saw flames coming from a seashore resort. Driesell broke down a door and rescued several children from the fire that eventually destroyed four townhouses. An eyewitness, Prince George's County circuit court Judge Samuel Meloy, said, "Let's face it, Driesell was a hero. There were no injuries and it was a miracle because firemen didn't come for at least 30 minutes." Driesell said, "Don't build me up as any kind of hero. All we did was try to get the kids out. It was just lucky that we were fishing right in front of the houses." For these actions, Driesell was awarded the NCAA Award of Valor.

In the 1974 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament, Maryland was defeated by North Carolina State University in overtime 103-100. Many consider it to be one of the greatest college basketball games of all time. North Carolina State University eventually went on to win the 1974 National Championship. Maryland finished No. 4 in the final Associated Press poll that season, prompting the NCAA to make a landmark decision in 1975. The NCAA tournament committee expanded the field from 32 to 48 teams, which opened the door for more than one team from a conference.

In 1984, Driesell led the team to the school's second ACC Tournament Championship. In December 1985, the university gave Driesell a ten-year contract extension. Earlier that same year, Driesell was made an Honorary M Club member. On June 19, 1986, Maryland star Len Bias died of a cocaine-induced heart attack shortly after being drafted by the Boston Celtics as the No. 2 overall selection. An investigation revealed that Bias was 21 credits short of the graduation requirement despite having used all his athletic eligibility. On October 29, Driesell resigned as head coach and took a position as an assistant athletic director. He also worked as a television analyst during college basketball games. Some members of the media widely described Driesell as a scapegoat of chancellor John B. Slaughter and the university administration.

After Maryland

Driesell resumed his coaching career at James Madison University in 1988. He remained the Dukes head coach until 1996. Driesell led James Madison to the NCAA Tournament in 1994. His teams captured five Colonial Athletic Association regular season championships and one tournament championship.

Driesell then coached at Georgia State, which he led to four Atlantic Sun Conference regular season championships and one tournament championship. He retired from coaching on January 3, 2003 in the middle of his 41st season as a head coach. At the time of his retirement, he ranked No. 4 in number of wins for an NCAA Division I coach, behind only Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp, and Bob Knight. Driesell is the only basketball coach to win at least 100 games at four different colleges. Driesell led four of his squads to the Elite Eight, but was unable to ever advance to the Final Four. Because of this and his recruiting acumen, Sports Illustrated noted that he has sometimes been—unfairly—viewed as a stellar recruiter but mediocre coach. Driesell's final record was 786–394.

Honors and awards

Driesell earned conference Coach of the Year honors at each of his destinations. He was named the Southern Conference Coach of the Year four times at Davidson (1963–1966), twice named the Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year at Maryland (1975 and 1980), twice named the Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year at James Madison (1990 and 1992), and once named the Atlantic Sun Conference Coach of the Year at Georgia State (2001).

Driesell was awarded the NCAA Award of Valor for helping save lives from a July 12, 1973 structure fire.

In 1995, Driesell was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. On April 2, 2007, Driesell was inducted as a member of the second class of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. The University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame inducted Driesell in 2002. On August 13, 2008, he was inducted as a member of the inaugural class of the Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame, which honors athletes, coaches, and administrators who made contributions to sports in southeastern Virginia. On May 25, 2011, Driesell was inducted into the Southern Conference Hall of Fame.

In 2003, Georgia State University dedicated their basketball court to Driesell.

On April 2, 2010, the first annual Lefty Driesell Award for the best defensive player in NCAA Division I basketball was bestowed upon its first recipient, Jarvis Varnado of Mississippi State.

In February 2017, the University of Maryland hung a banner in the Xfinity Center to honor his career at the university. Lefty accepted the honor alongside of numerous former players, assistant coaches, and family.

Although nominated many times for the Basketball Hall of Fame and receiving wide support from contemporaries, Driesell as of 2017 was once again nominated but not selected.

Personal life

While a student at Duke University, Driesell eloped with his wife, Joyce on December 14, 1952. The two had met while in the ninth and eighth grades, respectively. The couple has four children. His son, Chuck, was hired as an assistant on the Maryland coaching staff under Gary Williams in 2006, and served from 2010-2015, as the head basketball coach at The Citadel. Chuck also served as an assistant for his father, while at JMU. While coaching under his father, saw firsthand just how hard his dad worked. “Dad gave me a lot of responsibility, and we worked hard. As a son and as a player, I’m not sure I understood how hard he worked. I figured it out pretty quickly.” Chuck is currently the head coach at the Maret School in Washington, D.C.

One of his three daughters, Pam, is a pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. Driesell is a Presbyterian, but has often attended churches affiliated with other Christian denominations. In 2003, Driesell retired to Virginia Beach, Virginia with his wife.

Coaching tree

These former players or assistant coaches of Driesell later became head coaches at the collegiate or professional level: