Hall of Fame college basketball coach Lefty Driesell passes away

Charles Grice “Lefty” Driesell, a Hall of Fame college basketball coach who spent more than four decades leading teams, passed away on Saturday, his family said. He was 92.

Driesell won 786 games at four schools — Davidson, Maryland, James Madison, and Georgia State — and took each of them to the NCAA Tournament. He was named to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018. When he retired from coaching in 2003, only Bob Knight, A

dolph Rupp, and Dean Smith had won more games.

Know as one of the best-ever program builders, Driesell took Maryland and Davidson to the Elite Eight twice each.

Driesell played his college ball at Duke. He got his start as a college head coach in 1960 at Davidson. In nine years with the program, he led the Wildcats to four top-10 finishes, five Southern regular-season championships, and three NCAA Tournament appearances.

In 1969, Maryland brought him in to coach a floundering program. The school had endured losing seasons in seven of the previous 11 seasons and it had only one NCAA Tournament appearance in the previous 46 years. Still, Diesell promised to turn Maryland into the “UCLA of the East.”

In 17 seasons with the Terrapins, Driesell led Maryland to a 348-159 record, eight NCAA Tournaments, an NIT championship, two regular season ACC championships, and one ACC tournament title.

In 1974, fourth-ranked Maryland played top-ranked NC State for the ACC tournament title in a game that is regarded as one of the greatest c

ollege basketball games ever played. NC State won in overtime, 103-100, and kept Maryland out of the NCAA Tournament. The following season, the selection committee introduced “The Maryland Rule” and began to extend at-large bids to non-conference champs.

Driesell’s Maryland tenure came to a close in 1986, following the death of Maryland basketball player Len Bias. A grand jury investigation cleared Driesell of any wrongdoing after Bias’ father accused the school and the coach of neglecting their student-athletes’ academic status.

In 1988, Driesell left Maryland to become the new head coach at James Madison. In nine seasons, he led the Dukes to 159-111 record, an NCAA Tournament appearance, and five regular-season CAA championships.

He moved to Georgia State in 1997 and won a TAAC conference title in his first season. He took won four regular-season conference titles with the Panthers, took them to the NCAA Tournament in 2000-01, and retired in 2003 with a 103-59 record at the school.

Driesell remains the only coach to win at least 100 games at four different Division I schools.