Charles "Lefty" Driesell

Termed the greatest program builder in the history of college basketball after winning more than a hundred games at four different Division I schools, all of which had fallen on hard times or never enjoyed hoops success, Charles ""Lefty"" Driesell was a transcendent figure in his sport for more than [...]
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Termed the greatest program builder in the history of college basketball after winning more than a hundred games at four different Division I schools, all of which had fallen on hard times or never enjoyed hoops success, Charles ""Lefty"" Driesell was a transcendent figure in his sport for more than forty years. Despite never coaching at one of the college game's traditional powers, and despite losing two seasons in the middle of his career due to the tragic actions of another, Driesell still ended his career as the fourth ""winningest"" college coach at the time he retired in 2003 with 786 victories, coaching at Davidson, Maryland, James Madison, and Georgia State. Included in his legacy is the traditional start of preseason practice called Midnight Madness, assistant coaches who would later accumulate more than 2,500 Division I wins as head coaches, incentive for the expansion of the NCAA Tournament to more than just conference champions, recruitment of the first African-American players at previously all-white schools in the South, and revolutionary recruiting tactics that would prompt NCAA legislation. Thirty-three of his players were drafted by the NBA.Among his ten First Team All-Americans were nine NBA first-round draft picks, while two of the best recruits he ever signed never played a minute for him. This is the story of a legitimate basketball legend known simply as ""Lefty.