If there was a Hall of Fame just for recruiting, Lefty Driesell would be the gargoyle sitting on the front steps of the museum, deciding who was worthy of passing.
One recruiting story involved Tom McMillen, a Pennsylvania high school basketball star and future Rhodes scholar and congressman, asking Driesell about Maryland. “How many books do you have in your library?” McMillen said. Lefty’s response: “Tom, I don’t know. But I’ll make you a deal: If you read them all, I’ll buy you some more.”
McMillen went to Maryland. So did John Lucas, Albert King, Len Elmore, Buck Williams and Len Bias. Moses Malone picked Maryland, but then opted for the ABA over books.
Danny Ferry, once the nation’s top high school player, sitting right there in Maryland, planned to sign with Duke or North Carolina. That didn’t stop Driesell. “Lefty knew I wanted to go away,” said Ferry, now the Hawks’ general manager. “He picked me up, drove me to the airport and we got into a plane and flew over the Maryland campus. We flew over Cole Field House and it said, ‘Danny’s House.’ Then we went back to the airport and he drove me around. That was my official visit. It was impressive.”
Still, he picked Duke.
Count Ferry among the many who believe Driesell should be in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. For some reason, that honor continues to elude Driesell. It happened again recently when the 2014 class was announced and his name wasn’t included. Driesell compiled won 786 games and went to 13 NCAA tournaments with Davidson, Maryland, James Madison and Georgia State, who weren’t quite the Duke, North Carolina, Indiana and Kentucky of the college basketball universe when Driesell got there (or are now).
Driesell seems to be getting into every Hall of Fame except the one that really counts. The D.C. Sports Hall of Fame just announced they are honoring him. How many is that?
“Ten or 11,” he said by phone. “Let’s see — Virginia, Davidson, Southern Conference … Got a list somewhere. Georgia State doesn’t have a Hall of Fame, but my name’s on the (court). That’s better.”
He was relaxing at his beach house in Delaware. He’s 82 years old now and walks with a cane. He would have liked to make it to a couple of Georgia State games this season to see what Ron Hunter created, but the creaky bones wouldn’t him.
“Missed the Final Four,” he said. “First time in 50 years.”
But he’s loving life. He has four children and 11 grandchildren. “I populated the world,” he said, laughing.
“Really, I’m not going to lose any sleep over this Hall of Fame thing. I’ve still got a chance.”
But the snub bothers him. It should. His win total ranks eighth all-time among Division I coaches. At the time he retired only Bob Knight, Dean Smith and Adolph Rupp had more. He’s the only coach to win at least 100 games at four different schools. He’s the coach who gave us “Midnight Madness,” the post-midnight start of practice. The NCAA even has a “Lefty Driesell Award” for the nation’s best defensive player.
The only thing missing on Driesell’s resume is he never went to the Final Four. But neither did John Chaney, and he’s in the Hall.
Driesell coached several highly ranked teams at Maryland at a time when the NCAA tournament took only one team from the ACC. When North Carolina State won the national championship in 1974 with David Thompson, Maryland was No. 2 in the ACC and No. 4 in the nation, but didn’t get a tournament invite.
Driesell’s public image took a hit after Bias’ cocaine overdose in 1986. The resulting look into the academic standards of Maryland basketball players led to his removal as basketball coach. But Driesell never was accused of wrongdoing by the NCAA, and Maryland’s president wound up hiring a coach, Bob Wade, who got the program on probation and paying off Driesell for the remaining nine years on his contract. The ousted coach wound up being vindicated.
Contrast Driesell with Eddie Sutton, who got Kentucky on probation but was a finalist for the Hall this year, (Driesell wasn’t.)
“I can’t imagine that a sane individual who knows anything about the Maryland situation can blame my father for anything that happened,” said Chuck Driesell, Citadel’s coach. “If that’s the reason he’s not in the Hall of Fame, I’d love to know why.”
We may never know. A candidate must be nominated and then accrue 18 of 24 votes from the “Honors Committee.” But the voters remain private. The secrecy, and therefore potential for agendas, is the worst of all the Halls in this regard.
A Hall spokesman said that only president John Doleva could speak on the voting process. He was unavailable last week, the spokesman said.
Driesell: “They won’t tell you anything.”
Has he ever asked.
“No, but let me know if you ever hear something.”
He long has been a supporter of the Hall.
“I’m one of the founding members — I’ve given them money since the beginning.”
Pause.
“Well, I haven’t given anything to them lately, though.”
Former Georgetown coach John Thompson, a longtime rival of Driesell, used his Washington, D.C., radio show as a platform in February to praise Driesell as an innovator on and off the court.
“He needs to be in the Hall of Fame … whether he’s won a national championship or has not won a national championship,” Thompson said.
Driesell laughed when asked about the comments: “I told John it made me cry reading that. I said, ‘I didn’t know you loved me that much.’”
When I mentioned the Ferry recruiting story, he acted as if happened last week, not 29 years ago.
“I wanted Danny bad. Mike Krzyzewski came in and stole him from me,” Driesell said. “I lost him, Johnny Dawkins and Adrian Dantley. I was supposed to be this great recruiter, but they were in my backyard. Probably would’ve won a couple national championships.”
Maybe. But the Hall shouldn’t need that for affirmation.
About the Author
