Charles 'Lefty' Driesell

His disarming humor and Southern charm could never mask what made Charles “Lefty” Driesell a great coach. He was competitive, knowledgeable, hard-working, and perhaps most importantly, Lefty always let an adversary know that he was one to be reckoned with and that his teams would fight to the very end. A nine-time Conference Coach of the Year, Driesell won 786 games at the collegiate level including 21 appearances in the postseason and four trips to the Elite Eight. He was a builder of programs, turning schools like Davidson, James Madison, and Georgia State into legitimate contenders. At Davidson, he led the Wildcats to eight Southern Conference titles and four finishes in the AP Top Ten final poll. At Maryland, where Lefty enjoyed his greatest success, he won two ACC regular season championships in the toughest basketball conference in the country. The Terps won the 1972 NIT championship and finished in the AP Top Ten four times. A great promoter and a tireless recruiter, Lefty’s invention of Midnight Madness made the start of the college basketball season a must-see event on campuses across the country.