Former Duke player, Maryland coach Lefty Driesell passes away

According to Lead1 President and CEO Tom McMillen, college basketball legend and longtime coach Lefty Driesell (born Charles Grice Driesell) has passed away at 92 years old.

Here was the tweet shared by McMillen announcing that news:

“I am deeply saddened to share that Coach Lefty Driesell passed away this morning. He was a legend both on and off the court and instrumental in my life. I am grateful that we shared some time together a couple weeks ago. We will miss him dearly.”

Driesell enjoyed a retirement of just over 20 years since last coaching hoops at Georgia State in the 2002-2003 season. But he decided to call it quits after 41 years as a head college basketball coach which included stints at Davidson, Maryland, James Madison and then GSU. He also played for the Duke Blue Devils back in the 1950s during his own college days.

However, Driesell’s most memorable days came as a coach in the ACC when he led Maryland for 17 years from 1970 through the end of 1986. In the early stages of his time there, NCAA Tournament appearances were tougher to come by but the Terrapins were consistently ranked near the top of the polls. They won the NIT in 1972 and made their first decent tourney run in ’73 before making another one in ’75.

When the 1980s arrived with all its pomp and flare, so did postseason success for Maryland under Lefty Driesell. From the 1979-80 season through his last in ’86, the Terrapins made the tourney five of six years and even made a few Sweet 16s.

Following the ’86 season, Driesell resigned and took a few years off from coaching before jumping back into the game at James Madison ahead of the 1988-89 season. He found success at the turn of the decade once more, winning five straight regular season crowns in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).

Although, it wasn’t until the fifth of those, 1994, when JMU finally broke through for the triple crown: CAA regular season title, CAA tourney title and NCAA Tournament appearance. They lost in the first round to No. 3 seed Florida but only by two points, 64-62.

That was Lefty’s final time in the NCAA Tournament with the Dukes but not his last overall, as he again moved, this time to Georgia State and struck oil at — you guessed it — the turn of the decade. Starting with the 1999-2000 season, Driesell took the Panthers to three straight regular season conference titles, two in the Trans America Athletic Conference and one in the Atlantic Sun.

Georgia State only won its conference tournament title in ’01, but they were likely to make the Big Dance anyway as they went 29-5 on the season and earned an 11-seed. They even upset No. 6 seed Wisconsin in round one but then lost to none other than Driesell’s former program, Maryland, in what would be the longtime head coach’s final appearance in March Madness.