He was at Davidson, and coached All-American Mike Malloy, plus Doug Cook, Terry Holland and others to huge success there at the tiny North Carolina college…
Then Lefty was seen driving up Highway 29 North in a Cadillac convertible, headed past the Carolina Circle Mall, on his way to College Park, Maryland where Charles ‘Lefty’ Driesell was going to make the Maryland Terrapins, “The UCLA of the East”…
And ‘Lefty’ nearly pulled it off, with players like John Lucas, Tom McMillan, Len Elmore, Mo Howard, and so many more Maryland Terrapin great basketball players…But many feel the death of Len Bias did ‘Lefty’ in….It was after that tragic death, that ‘Lefty’ surveyed the situation, and felt the need to go coach at James Madison University….And Charles ‘Lefty’ Driesell had success there too…
In 1974, ‘Lefty’ took the Maryland Terrapins to the ACC Men’s Basketball Championship Game at the Greensboro Coliseum, and I think the final score in that game(It was a crazy game), won by the N.C. State Wolfpack, with David Thompson, Tommy Burleson, Monte Towe, Tim Stoddard, Phil Spence, Mark Moeller and others is called “The Greatest Game in ACC Basketball History”…Game went to Triple Overtime, and the final score was something like, 110-104(103-100 to be exact) in favor of the Pack….
Lefty was the man and he still is the man, and he had that old Southern Accent/Southern Drawl, but he played his college basketball at Duke University…
You talk about your ACC greats, with Coach Smith, Coach K, and others, well this guy is right there with them, and today we say RIP:Charles ‘Lefty’ Driesell…You had a story tell, and you broke a few(SEVERAL) chairs while doing it, but you left your make on the Left Side, and we all love you to this day for ALL you did….
A story to tell, Charles ‘Lefty’ Driesell, and sir you did it well…..
Again, RIP:Charles ‘Lefty’ Driesell
(Gone at age 92)
A Maryland icon. A college basketball legend.
We mourn the passing of the one and only Lefty Driesell
More: https://t.co/uIZdljbUTt pic.twitter.com/r5F8R8suS2
— Maryland Men’s Basketball (@TerrapinHoops) February 17, 2024