Folksy, fiery coach put Maryland on the map
He was the first coach to win more than 100 games at four NCAA D-I schools
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Lefty Driesell, the Hall of Fame coach whose folksy drawl belied a fiery on-court demeanor that put Maryland on the college basketball map and enabled him to rebuild several struggling programs, died Saturday. He was 92.
Driesell died at his home in Virginia Beach, Virginia, his family said.
Maryland planned to honor Driesell with a moment of silence before its game against No. 14 Illinois later Saturday. The university said the team would wear throwback uniforms from the 1970s previously worn on Jan. 21, when the Terrapins honored Driesell with an “Ode to Lefty.”
Driesell finished with 786 victories over parts of five decades and was the first coach to win more than 100 games at four NCAA Division I schools. He started at Davidson in 1960 before bringing Maryland into national prominence from 1969-86, a stay that ended with the cocaine-induced death of All-American Len Bias.
Driesell then won five regular-season conference titles over nine seasons at James Madison and finished with a successful 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 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 launched the college basketball tradition known as Midnight Madness on Oct. 15, 1971. At three minutes after midnight on the first day of practice as sanctioned by the NCAA, Driesell had his players take a mandatory mile run on the track inside the Maryland football stadium.
The lighting was provided by the headlights of a few cars parked at one end of the stadium. The motivation came from Driesell’s prodding and the estimated 800 students who gathered to watch the unpublicized event.
“I’ve done a lot of crazy things to get attention, but that wasn’t one of them,” Driesell said 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 also helped knock down racial barriers in the college game. He made George Raveling the first Black coach in the ACC by hiring him as an assistant in 1969. Driesell’s effort to recruit Charlie Scott to play at Davidson helped make the future NBA star become the first African American scholarship athlete to attend North Carolina.
Walking onto the court at Maryland to the tune of “Hail to the Chief,” Driesell would thrust both arms in the air — two fingers extended on each hand with the V for victory sign — amid a standing ovation. On the sideline, he would often stomp his foot to show his displeasure with a call, and if things got really intense he would peel off his sports jacket, toss it to the floor and trample it.
Yet, Driesell rarely raised his voice off the court and had a knack for charming the parents of potential recruits with an assuring, homespun style that smacked of his Southern roots.
“He had a big personality, was an excellent recruiter and he helped put Maryland basketball on the map,” said Brad Davis, a guard at Maryland from 1974-77 before heading to the NBA.
Driesell was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007, but his entry into the Naismith shrine proved more elusive. He was a finalist four times before receiving the necessary 75% vote three months after his 86th birthday.