THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 10, 1996 TAG: 9602100381
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
Lefty Driesell made a promise to himself when he got into coaching four decades ago at his alma mater, Norfolk's Granby High School.
``I said from the first day I started coaching, `When I can't win, I'm gone,' '' Driesell said.
Driesell is in the midst of the worst of his 39 seasons as a basketball head coach, including 34 on the college level. The Norfolk native brings a 5-18 James Madison team into Scope at 7:35 tonight that has lost seven in a row, is mired in last place in the Colonial Athletic Association and hasn't won on the road all season.
The last Driesell team with a losing record was Davidson, which went 9-14 in 1960-61, Driesell's first as a college coach. He had never lost more than 14 games in a season prior to this one.
``I don't know if I meant one year when I said that, but if we lose like this next year, I'm gone,'' Driesell said. ``I'm 64-years-old. I can't condone losing.''
Can't stand it, either.
``I've never had a season like this,'' said Driesell, who began the season with 657 career victories (19.9 per season) and a .685 winning percentage as a college coach. ``I guess if you coach long enough, you'll have one.''
James Madison has been one of the most dominant teams in the CAA much of Driesell's tenure. For five consecutive seasons, JMU won or shared the league's regular-season title, a streak that was snapped last year when it finished third.
Third suddenly looks pretty good to the ninth-place place Dukes.
``It's a very humbling experience,'' said Dukes assistant coach Chuck Driesell, Lefty's son. ``We're used to being on top of this league. You don't realize how much you take winning 20 games for granted until you have a season like this one.''
Al Leitner of Virginia Beach was a volunteer assistant for Driesell at Granby and played with him in the Chesapeake Athletic Club. He's the godfather of one of Driesell's children, said he has helped Driesell recruit at times and attended every Maryland home game when Driesell was the coach there.
Leitner, who talks to Driesell a couple times a month, said as depressing as this season has been for the coach, there's no way it will be his last at JMU.
``I'll be shocked if he doesn't come back,'' Leitner said. ``I don't think he'll go out this way. I know it's killing him. But he's got some good kids coming in next year. He'll be back.''
Driesell, who has one year left on his contract, said he told all the players the Dukes signed in the fall he would be at the school for a few more years.
``I don't usually make promises that I break,'' Driesell said.
The future looks more promising than the present for JMU.
Guard Darren McLinton - the second-leading scorer in the CAA who is asked to carry the team every night - and limited center James Coleman are the only Dukes who will not be back next season. A lot of young players are getting experience, and they will be joined next year by a good recruiting class of four early signees.
The best incoming player is 6-foot-10 Rob Strickland out of Pleasantville, N.J., regarded as a top 100 player by recruiting analysts and called ``definitely a blue-chip talent'' by Bob Gibbons.
Gibbons likened Strickland to ODU's Odell Hodge. The Driesells consider him to be their best high school recruit in eight seasons at Harrisonburg.
``He'll be the best big man in this league in a long time,'' Lefty said. ``We'll be good next year, but in two years we'll really be tough.''
This year, they are surprisingly soft. If you stop McLinton, you've stopped JMU's offense. The Dukes do not shoot, defend or rebound well. Their inside players have not produced much offensive punch. Driesell has used several different lineups, and said he has tried a myriad of approaches to change practices, routines and how he deals with the players in an attempt to push the right buttons.
``He's working harder than ever,'' Chuck Driesell said. ``He's approached each game as if we can win it and as if we're an 18-5 team.''
Despite all the shortcomings, the Dukes have been in all but a handful of their 18 losses. They are usually done in by a stretch of a few minutes in the second half where the opponent takes control of the game.
``I think our kids play hard,'' Lefty said. ``We just don't have the personnel. We're trying to get as much out of them as we can.
``I feel sorry for our players. Like I tell them, I've won my 660 or whatever it is games; I just want them to win.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Lefty Driesell
Graphic
ODU Gamewatch
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