THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 6, 1995 TAG: 9505060455
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
The man whose absolute last thought upon becoming a coach 38 years ago was that it would be his path to any hall of fame has lately spent a lot of time taking up residence in hallowed halls.
Friday at the Holiday Inn, Lefty Driesell was one of six inductees into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. It's the third such institution to honor Driesell, college basketball's third-winningest active coach with 657 victories.
Recently, Duke University, where he played basketball after graduating from Granby High School, and Davidson, which he turned into one of the most surprising powerhouses in college basketball history, invited him to join the ranks of their greatest athletic heroes.
``The only reason I got into coaching was to feed my four children and buy my wife some clothes,'' Driesell said. ``I was working at the Ford plant and I had to get up at 5:30 every morning. With the job at Granby, I didn't have to be to work until 9. That's why I took it.''
Driesell and former William and Mary star and coach Bill Chambers were the only inductees who met the media prior to the banquet. In 1957, Chambers, then coach at Newport News High School but heading to William and Mary, recommended that Driesell take his place.
``We played semipro basketball together at some of the military installations and it was obvious that he was a great competitor,'' Chambers said. ``I felt like he would be a good one.''
One of Driesell's teams at Newport News went 25-0 and won a state championship. His next stop was Davidson, where he turned a sleepy little program in a sleepy little North Carolina town into a national power.
Davidson won 176 games in Driesell's nine seasons there.
He then moved to Maryland, a doormat in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Employing a flamboyant, controversial style - the pep band played ``Hail to the Chief'' when Driesell made his pregame appearance at Cole Field House - he successfully recruited the nation's top high school players, captured 348 games and made 12 NCAA appearances in 17 seasons.
He coached in two of the most memorable games in college basketball history - a 31-30 upset of nationally ranked South Carolina. Driesell ordered his team to hold the ball - the halftime score was 4-2 - and the Terps scored five points in the last 12 seconds to upend the Gamecocks.
The other was a 103-100 overtime loss in the 1974 ACC finals against David Thompson-led North Carolina State. Many called it the greatest college game ever played.
The end of his tenure at Maryland was marred by the drug-related death of All-American forward Len Bias. It brought Driesell intense criticism.
``People look at that situation and what went down after it and never take into consideration that coach lost a good friend in Len Bias,'' said Chuck Driesell, the coach's son and his assistant at JMU. ``Despite all the ramifications of what came after, what was more upsetting to him than anything else was that somebody very near to him died.''
Seven years ago, Driesell took over at James Madison. His record is 138-78, making JMU the third college at which he holds the record for most career victories.
Both Driesells describe JMU's last season as ``difficult.'' One night the Dukes would beat Purdue; the next they would lose on the road at Liberty. After the season, there was plenty of talk that it might have been Driesell's last.
``People always ask me when I'm going to quit,'' Lefty said. ``I tell them I'll probably drop dead on the bench. I just hope I'm ahead at the time. If I am, I want credit for the win. If we lose, I don't want the blame.''
Driesell's son laughs when asked how much longer Lefty will go on.
``I have absolutely no idea and no way to even begin getting a read on that,'' Chuck Driesell said. ``I admire his determination and will to win. He goes into every game, every practice, with the idea of being as prepared as he can be. And that's never changed.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Lefty Driesell, left, replaced Bill Chambers as coach at Newport
News High in 1957. Both were inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall
of Fame on Friday.
by CNB