Maryland men’s basketball legend Lefty Driesell, who coached the Terps from 1969-1986 and helped put the program on the national map, died on Feb. 17 at the age of 92.
Driesell finished his tenure at Maryland with a 348-159 record, two ACC regular-season championships, one ACC tournament title and one NIT championship. He also coached at Davidson (1960-1969), James Madison (1988-1996) and Georgia State (1997-2003), finishing with a career record of 786-394 in Division I hoops.
Driesell was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.
“I was thinking about all of my players,” Driesell said on Glenn Clark Radio back in 2018, reflecting on the Hall of Fame honor. “I’ll be in the Hall of Fame for my grandchildren … my great grandchildren. It’s just the biggest honor you can get as a basketball coach.”
Those players include program legends like Len Bias, Len Elmore, Tom McMillen, Albert King, John Lucas, Buck Williams and many others. When Driesell took the head coaching job in 1969, he declared that his mission was to turn Maryland into the “UCLA of the East,” and although he never made it to a Final Four, a combination of his high-end recruiting and colorful personality put the Terps on the map.
“Lefty was responsible for moving Maryland into the modern era in college basketball when he took over 1969-70, not just in Cole Field House but especially in the DMV, he raised the level of college basketball in the area,” fellow Terps coaching legend Gary Williams said. “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. His personality, the team he coaches, all those things, created an aura around Lefty that very few coaches ever had.”
Here are a few other reactions to the news:
Tom McMillen:
Johnny Holliday:
Brenda Frese:
College GameDay:
Gov. Wes Moore:
Scott Van Pelt:
Keith Booth:
Michael Locksley:
Pete Gilbert:
Jay Wright:
Jimmy Patsos:
See Also:
• Lefty Driesell Reflects On Naismith Hall Of Fame Selection
• Lefty Driesell On Who Should Be Added To Maryland Rafters
Photo Credit: Mitch Stringer/PressBox