RIP Lefty Driesell

[Cosmo]

https://www.capitalgazette.com/2024/02/17/lefty-driesell-maryland-basketball-dies/

Definitely one of the colorful characters of my youth, especially growing up in the D.C. area where Maryland hoops was pretty big. RIP.

 

[jr/shotglass]

If you lived on the East Coast, his Maryland teams of the late '70s were the closest thing to must-see viewing after UCLA. And we didn't get to see a lot of the Bruins on TV back then. The Terps were a Jefferson-Pilot staple.

Albert King, Tom McMillen, Len Elmore just to start. Lefty brought in an amazing array of talent for an extended period.

One of the thrills of my young life was gtabbing a floor pass for Maryland-Duke at Cole Field House to shoot photos. Buck Williams, Ernest Graham, Greg Manning against Mike Gminski and Gene Banks.

RIP.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

If you’ve not seen the documentary about the history of the ACC tournament on the ACC network, do so. Lefty is prominently featured and there are some great stories.

 

[Matt1735]

Never knew that he was the creator of midnight madness.

 

[Starman]

Lefty had a somewhat shifty public image in the early Seventies, especially in contrast to Dean Smith and John Wooden. He was kinda Tark before Tark. Of course nothing he did would even register on the dirt scale nowadays.

 

[BTExpress]

Fitting that on the day of Driesell's passing Maryland eventually did achieve the coach's goal of becoming the "UCLA of the East."

 

[Webster]

St. Peter’s father is driving a brand new car right now.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Lefty had a somewhat shifty public image in the early Seventies, especially in contrast to Dean Smith and John Wooden. He was kinda Tark before Tark. Of course nothing he did would even register on the dirt scale nowadays.

The only difference between Wooden and Driesell might be that Wooden had Sam Gilbert.

 

[poindexter]

Maryland basketball was what I grew up with. Some great, fun, Lefty Maryland teams that never seemed to thrive in the NCAAs.

 

[Starman]

In those days ONLY the winner of the ACC Tournament made it to the NCAAs. Fairly often the ACC would have 4-5 teams in the top 20, but only one would get out of the league tourney.

 

[micropolitan guy]

Rose to prominence at Davidson. He had some great teams there but could never get past UNC in the regionals, in an era when the field was paired regionally and not seeded like today.

He de-segregated North Carolina by recruiting Charlie Scott to Davidson. Scott had committed because UNC didn't offer. Scott was so good, UNC was forced to offer him.

His 1972-73 team was the opponent for the opening of the Robins Center my freshman year at Three Chopt Tech. They destroyed us by about 40 points, what a great team.

His 1973-74 team that lost to NC State in the ACC championship could have won the NCAA title. Instead they destroyed everyone in the NIT by about 40 points. He had some good teams at JMU too, on the downside of his career. He also signed Moses Malone, who would have been a beast.

RIP to the Left-hander. Hopefully wherever he is he can have a few beers with Jim Thacker and Billy Packer.

 

[Shelbyville Manhattan]

His 1973-74 team that lost to NC State in the ACC championship could have won the NCAA title. Instead they destroyed everyone in the NIT by about 40 points.

The Terps won the NIT in 1972, but turned down the NIT in 1974. In the locker room after that all-timer against State, Lefty’s players said they didn’t want to go. He told them to sleep on it, but would respect their decision. The next morning, they voted unanimously to bypass the NIT, and I believe Lefty said something about how you go to the NIT to try and prove that you’re a great team, but against State, they’d already proved it, so there was nothing more left to do.

 

[micropolitan guy]

The Terps won the NIT in 1972, but turned down the NIT in 1974. In the locker room after that all-timer against State, Lefty’s players said they didn’t want to go. He told them to sleep on it, but would respect their decision. The next morning, they voted unanimously to bypass the NIT, and I believe Lefty said something about how you go to the NIT to try and prove that you’re a great team, but against State, they’d already proved it, so there was nothing more left to do.

I must have been thinking about the 1972 NIT, when they crushed a good Niagara team.

 

[micropolitan guy]

An outstanding obit in the Washington Post. I'd forgotten about his stint at Georgia State. He remains the only coach to win 100 games or more at four different programs, taking all four of them to the NCAA tournament.

I forgot Terry Holland played for him at Davidson.

Lefty Driesell, coach who built Maryland into college basketball power, dies at 92 - The Washington Post

 

[Starman]

Until they expanded the NCAAs from 24 to 32 teams in 1975 (IIRC), the NIT was a very legitimate event. Because of conference tourney upsets and other factors, it was not uncommon to have a couple Top Ten teams and a half dozen more from the Top 25 in the NIT field, so you could see some pretty good matchups.

Once the NCAA field went to 40 and conferences started getting four or more teams in the tourney, the NIT lost its credibility and became a sideshow. The only time anybody decent would drop to the NIT would be mid-majors who'd had a great regular season then stumbled early in their conference tourney.

Then when the NCAAs ballooned up to 64, pretty much nobody decent was left for the NIT; you'd have seventh place teams from the SEC playing fourth place teams from the MAC.

Lefty and the Terps helped accelerate this process by turning down the NIT in 74. But it was probably inevitable anyway.

 

[swingline]

The only difference between Wooden and Driesell might be that Wooden had Sam Gilbert.

The difference between Wooden and everybody was that he had Sam Gilbert.

 

[goalmouth]

Driesell dead at 92, but Clint Eastwood still directing ****ty movies at 93.

 

[Songbird]

This interview was surgical and respectful and Lefty answered everything:

 

[Starman]

The difference between Wooden and everybody was that he had Sam Gilbert.

Nah. Virtually every DI football and basketball school had some kind of "Sam Gilbert." (As they mostly do today.)

Even many chronically mediocre programs were dishing out cash and goodies under the table, the problem was they either weren't dishing out enough of it, or were dishing it to the wrong people.

Remember, in the Sixties and Seventies, LA was still very much a glamor destination for the huge majority of the country. And for at least the first half of the UCLA dynasty, a good chunk of the college basketball world was still only accepting Black players with some resistance.

 

[jr/shotglass]

The ACC tournament of those years drew huuuuge TV numbers throughout the mid-Atlantic. To a lot of people, that was the climax of the college basketball season, not the NCAAs. Maybe until Bird-Johnson.