COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Charles "Lefty" Driesell, a prominent basketball coach, died Saturday morning. He was 92.
The University of Maryland Athletics confirmed his death Saturday, saying, "His memory will be forever etched in Maryland basketball history."
Driesell is one of the winningest head coaches in NCAA history. He served as head coach at four different institutions: Davidson College (1960-69), University of Maryland (1969-86), James Madison University (1988-96) and Georgia State University (1997-03).
Throughout his tenure, he had 786 victories. He still ranks 15th all-time among all NCAA Division I coaches and is 23rd overall at all levels of NCAA basketball.
Driesell is also credited with the idea for the tradition "Midnight Madness," which has largely been inherited by almost every college basketball team in the country.
"Lefty was a larger-than-life figure who made a significant impact wherever he went, particularly at James Madison and our men's basketball program," Jeff Bourne, the director of athletics at James Madison University, said in a press release.
Driesell was honored in 2018 with induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, which came after his induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007. He was also a member of the Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame, the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, the Southern Conference Hall of Fame and the Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame.
While a coach at the University of Maryland for 17 seasons, the team reached eight NCAA Tournaments, won the 1972 NIT Championship title, won the 1984 ACC Tournament Championship, and posted a pair of ACC Regular Season titles.
"Lefty Driesell was a transcendent figure in college basketball and the man who put Maryland basketball on the map," said Damon Evans, the Barry P. Gossett Director of Athletics at the University of Maryland. "A Hall of Famer, Lefty was an innovator, a man who was ahead of his time from his coaching on the court to his marketing off the court."
The Charles "Lefty" Driesell Endowed Scholarship at the University of Maryland was previously established before his death and provides scholarships to student-athletes.
At Saturday's game, a moment of silence in his honor is planned prior to the National Anthem, University of Maryland Athletics announced. The players will also wear throwback uniforms that honor Driesell.
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