Driesell’s Colorful Maryland Career Ebbed and Flowed

Lefty Driesell anticipated his forced resignation as Maryland’s basketball coach with a typical mixture of dignity, dark humor and one of those simple but outrageous statements that sum up his career.

“Maybe I just don’t take a good picture,” he said. “So let them hire somebody with hair.”

Driesell always has been uncomfortably frank and, indeed, the now-complete picture of his 17 years at Maryland reflects his image. It is sprawling and marked by controversy, but redeemed occasionally by extravagance. When Driesell studies the years, he sees no national championship but an impressive list of victories, a generosity to his players but some failings in educating them, a dogged persistence yet some poor judgment.

Driesell never has lost his singular passion for basketball. He reveled in the fluorescent lights and hardwood of Cole Field House, where he regularly drew 14,500 eager to see him stomp on his sports coat. Over the years at College Park, he won an Atlantic Coast Conference championship, an NIT title and his 524th career victory.

Yet Driesell never quite achieved the success he wanted, and experienced some tragedies along the way, including the deaths of three players. Owen Brown died of heart disease February 1976 after he left Maryland, and Chris Patton was a victim of Marfans syndrome two months later. Then, on June 19, 1986, all-America Len Bias collapsed in his dormitory room and died of cocaine intoxication, and the ensuing maelstrom led to Driesell’s exodus.

A one-time salesman of cars and encyclopedias, Driesell became enamored of the coaching profession in 1954, heading the junior varsity at Granby High School in his hometown of Norfolk, Va. By 1960, Driesell, then 28, had his first college coaching job, at Davidson. He won his first game, pulling off a stunning upset of No. 3-ranked Wake Forest.

In an early interview, Driesell recalled the game: “I was all fired up, telling my team I had never lost an opener in junior high school or high school, and I didn’t intend to lose one now. We went out and played super, unbelievable, and we won. I thought, ‘Hey, this college coaching is easy.’ The next game we lost to Catawba.”

Driesell established his reputation as an artful recruiter at Davdison, bringing in Fred Hetzel, the school’s first all-America. In 1969, Driesell swept into College Park with the promise “UCLA of the East” on his lips.

The Terrapins were 8-18 the previous season, had won just two Atlantic Coast Conference tournament games in the previous 11 years and were lucky to draw a crowd of 2,000. Driesell was 37, had some hair and had turned Davidson into one of the startling basketball powers in the country, building four top 10 teams.

Eager to Win

Driesell was an anxious, restless first-year coach at Maryland. He put 50,000 miles on his car recruiting the first season. He had 1,000 seats added to Cole Field House and put up temporary bleachers himself. His first official act was to wake his players up at 6 a.m. and make them run a mile in under six minutes before class.

One member of his first team was Will Hetzel, younger brother of Fred Hetzel. Driesell had ongoing problems with the younger Hetzel, partly a result of his long hair and relaxed approach to the game. It was Hetzel who found the key to staying on Driesell’s good side.

“You’d be surprised how much more friendly Lefty can get when you play well,” he said.

Maryland set a school attendance record that season. The Terrapins were a much-improved 13-13, as Driesell used every trick in the book to scrape out wins, including getting his players to change jerseys to confuse opponents. He raced onto the court with his arms raised and stomped along the sideline. He also motivated his team with frank criticism. “They stink,” he said.

Somehow, it all worked. By 1972, Driesell’s five-year plan to win a national championship appeared on track when the Terrapins won the NIT and went 27-5.

But, by then, Driesell was admitting, “UCLA wasn’t built in three or four years.” Also, a perception that Driesell was a weak floor coach began to emerge and create a frustrating reputation for him that would result in a number of tirades over the years, including the now-famous refrain, “I can coach.”

Driesell was confused and angered by the unfavorable reaction that came despite Maryland’s success. He began keeping files of press reports he considered insulting. “I just don’t understand why everyone is critical of a winner when this area has never had one,” he said.

The Terrapins did keep winning. From 1970 to 1975 they were consistently in the top 10. Driesell kept his fans doubly fascinated with statements such as, “Coaching is overrated.”

In 1973-74, Driesell produced what is widely considered his best team. The squad featured a Rhodes Scholar in Tom McMillen and a future Harvard law student in Len Elmore. The Terrapins began the season with a one-point loss to UCLA, then went on to finish 23-5.

But the Terrapins never made it to the NCAA tournament, losing to North Carolina State in the finals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, 103-100, in double overtime. It was among the best college games ever played, and the Wolfpack went on to become national champions.

In 1974-75, Driesell had another potentially great team. John Lucas, Steve Sheppard and Brad Davis led the Terrapins to the regular season ACC championship and got to the NCAA round of eight before losing to Louisville.

But from 1976 to 1979, there were no 20-victory seasons, no NCAA bids and more open signs of dissatisfaction with Driesell. In 1976, bad luck appeared again when he signed his finest recruit ever, Moses Malone. But just before classes began, Malone chose instead to play in the American Basketball Association.

It was the start of a bad roll. After losing to Virginia in the semifinals of the ACC tournament in 1976, Driesell’s players told him he put too much pressure on them with his hollering and sideline antics. In 1977-78, it was revealed that four of eight returning players were on academic probation; Driesell said it was blown out of proportion. The Terrapins sank to 15-13.

In 1978-79, the Terrapins lost to North Carolina, 102-79, in what was the most lopsided semifinal game ever in the ACC tournament. Athletic Director Carl James briefly refused to endorse Driesell.

That April, one of Driesell’s players, center Larry Gibson, was arrested and charged with breaking and entering after allegedly being observed crawling through a window of Shoemaker Hall. “Boys will be boys” was Driesell’s response.

That spring, it also became evident that Driesell was losing some top prospective recruits to other ACC schools. That was the year Ralph Sampson went to Virginia, North Carolina State signed 6-foot-11 Thurl Bailey, as well as Sidney Lowe and Dereck Whittenburg, and North Carolina signed James Worthy. Talk began that Driesell had mellowed, and that he no longer could win.

Return to Form

Then a wondrous and typical thing happened: Driesell produced another great team. A squad featuring ACC player of the year Albert King and 6-8 center Buck Williams went 24-7, was ranked eighth in the nation and turned around Driesell’s fading fortunes. The old Driesell was back kicking chairs and was named conference coach of the year. He was in form during a rare loss to Georgetown, after which he refused to shake the hand of John Thompson, and the Hoyas coach cussed him.

The euphoria didn’t last long, because Maryland was 21-10 in 1980-81, despite returning all of its starters. There still were a couple of bright moments, however, such as when Maryland beat fourth-ranked Virginia and Sampson. Afterward, Driesell launched into one of his finest tirades.

“All I know is, Maryland wasn’t crap before I got here, and Davidson wasn’t crap ‘fore I got there. And they ain’t been crap since I left. And Maryland better watch out. I just might leave someday, and when I do they’re probably going to be in big trouble, ‘cause they didn’t have no one who’s won like I have since 1800. They’ll never be able to find somebody who can do what I done, who can do what I do.”

That year became one of Driesell’s hardest. The team was booed, and his methods were questioned. He tried to phone critics who wrote in to local newpapers, and threatened to “smack in the face” anyone who would criticize him in person. It ended with a 99-64 loss to Indiana in the second round of the NCAAs. King, Ernest Graham and Greg Manning were finished, and Buck Williams went hardship to the NBA. Although Driesell apparently had little talent the next year, the Terrapins got to 16-13 and the NIT.

Then 1982-83 brought the most serious controversy of his career to that point. Maryland went 20-10 and got to the second round of the NCAA tournament before being knocked out by Houston, but first came the Herman Veal incident.

Veal was accused of forcing sexual attentions on a female student, then the woman said Driesell had called attempting to intimidate her into dropping her charges, saying her name would be “dragged through the mud” if the case went public. Various groups protested, and when the Women’s Center spoke up, Driesell replied, “I don’t care about the Women’s Center. I’m a men’s center.”

Driesell added fuel to the controversy when he was asked if Veal would be eligible for the ACC tournament and replied, “I’ve got a little pull around here, and we’ll see how much.” Chancellor John B. Slaughter publicly reprimanded him for “unacceptable intervention.”

Driesell’s teams continued to fluctuate. He finally won an ACC tournament in 1983-84, going 24-8. In 1984-85, Adrian Branch and Bias led the Terrapins to a 25-12 record, and Driesell got his 500th career victory. But the glory was taken out of that when it came against Towson State.

Last season, Maryland managed 19-14, largely due to the efforts of Bias, who would become the second pick overall in the NBA draft June 17.

On June 19, Bias collapsed in his dormitory suite. In the next months, Driesell’s academic policies were questioned, and the coach, agentattorney Lee Fentress and Bias’ high school coach, Bob Wagner, all faced possible indictment by the Prince George’s County grand jury for obstruction of justice for allegedly advising that evidence of drug use be removed from the room.

The grand jury refused to bring charges, but Driesell continued to experience criticism from all quarters, including Bias’ family. His last weeks as coach were spent defending his academic and coaching records. At the end, he simply fought for his job long after it became evident that he had lost.