Lefty Driesell

[Cat Forever]

When I talked to responsible adults about coming to Davidson, the ONLY thing about which I was given consist feedback was that Davidson had been a basketball powerhouse. No mention of academic rigor, beautiful campus, strong honor code, etc. Dr. Spencer should have inquired among my mentors as to why the success of a sports team in the 60's and early 70's was such a powerful and positive PR agent.

First, Dr. Spencer was a scholar and a gentleman. I liked him very much. I remember he had a regularly scheduled program in which he brought students into his home and made himself available to talk to each of us in a relatively informal setting. I was surprised when I introduced myself to him that he knew enough about me to know that my father had died when I was very young (12). I assume he had spoken to our hall counselors about the members of our group that were visiting that evening or maybe he had reviewed my application. He spent 15 minutes or so talking to me about my life and my dad. They were the same age and both entered the Army in 1940 and served thoughout WWII. Dr. Spencer gave me a brief look into his kind soul. I could never say a bad word about him.

Lefty's giant personality was probably too big for Davidson. I believe Dr. Spencer knew that. Lefty told Dr. Spencer he didn't want to leave and would stay at Davidson if they would make him AD in addition to basketball coach (this came directly from Lefty's mouth to a small goup of 3 or 4 alumni at the 100 year celebration) ... two hats and more money of course. Dr. Spencer declined the offer and Lefty went to Maryland. So, Dr. Spencer apparently did not want sports to be such a powerful PR agent for Davidson. Homer Smith left Davidson a few months after Lefty. Whatever his reasons, I have no doubt that Dr. Spencer had Davidson first in his heart.

Lefty always said he loved Davidson. There is no doubt he did. So did Dr. Samuel Spencer. Two great men.

[Cat Forever]

https://davidsonwildcats.com/news/2024/ ... y-driesell

[catnhat]

He’s in the Md and Va sports halls of fame. What he accomplished at DC is more amazing than what he did at College Park. He should be in the NC sports HOF.

[ScootCat]

Lefty should most definitely be in the N.C. Sports HOF. Now, with his passing, hopefully that will be rectified.

[stevelee]

When I have visited Raleigh, I have spent some time in the history museum where the HOF exhibit is housed. They had interactive screens where you can look up info on the inductees. I recall looking at what they had about Terry Holland. I notice that at least one other Davidson coach and one assistant are represented so far.

[citycat]

Lefty should most definitely be in the N.C. Sports HOF. Now, with his passing, hopefully that will be rectified.

An non-native inductee must reside in NC for 10 consecutive years while coaching. Lefty lived in NC for a little less than 9 years while coaching at Davidson.

This is probably why he wasn't inducted.

[Cat Forever]

Giant personality/ego?

I love this quote from Dave Kindred's article on Lefty The Case For Lefty Driesell Mar 29, 2018:

It was 1969. Ted Williams managed the Washington Senators. Vince Lombardi coached the Washington Redskins.

“They (Maryland AD Jim Kehoe) told me the summers belonged to Ted Williams, the falls belonged to Vince Lombardi and the winters would be Lefty Driesell’s,” he said. “That sounded pretty darn good.”

Lefty probably has audience with those iconic sports figures today in heaven. I'd bet they're laughing along with him and telling him "Yes, Lefty. You could coach!"

[Steve Rodgers]

I listened To Chris Mad Dog Russo yesterday and he did a half hour on Lefty, mostly with Tom McMillen. It was good, McMillen knew a lot of the Davidson stuff and Russo was fair and knowledgeable.

[ScootCat]

I reached out via email about Lefty to Tripp Durham, the executive director of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and the son of the late Woody Durham, the longtime voice of the UNC Tar Heels. He accepted my nomination. I hope he will give it strong consideration.

[seamac77]

I listened To Chris Mad Dog Russo yesterday and he did a half hour on Lefty, mostly with Tom McMillen. It was good, McMillen knew a lot of the Davidson stuff and Russo was fair and knowledgeable.

Heard it too.. Good interview... And they didn't dodge the death of Len Bias and how everyone so unfairly wanted to lay blame on Lefty for it. Russo admitted that he himself as a young sports reporter blamed Lefty at the time.

[catnhat]

Lefty has more than 10 years in NC. He played and graduated from Duke. Then he coached at DC. I understand wanting to insure that honorees have sufficient contact with NC to truly deserving. But I think the requirement that they be 10 consecutive years is pretty arbitrary.

[ScootCat]

CatnHat, UNC's legendary Lennie Rosenbluth, a native New Yorker, is in the NC HOF, and he left the state right after graduating. On that measure alone, Lefty is more than qualified.

[stan]

In a Davidson application essay I wrote about Lefty Dreisell. He'd been gone for over 5 years. Don't remember the question but it seems certain in retrospect that it was willfully misread in order to produce that response.

So the red lights were flashing and they had every chance to avoid making a mistake, but they nevertheless chose the legacy acceptance option.

Maybe in 5 years I'll write about Lefty in an application to The Pines.

Now doubt so entertaining it would be one application worthy of a read. Maybe even twice if you haven't lost too much off your fastball by then.

[stan]

I was hoping that people might want to share Lefty stories. It would be worthwhile to have an archive of them.

Lefty's elevation of the Davidson basketball program is the greatest coaching job in the history of college sports. Only Coach Snyder's tenure as football coach at Kansas State seems worthy of mention in the same breath.

[Cat Forever]

A good friend of mine, Tom Lewis, was a VP at Georgia State when they were considering hiring Lefty. He was at the table when they were discussing the hire. The president of the university expressed reservations ... that maybe Lefty was a little nutty. When Tom (a big time basketball fan like us) was given an opportunity to speak he told the president that if they wanted to build a winning basketball program at Georgia State it would have to be with a great coach and a great recruiter. He reminded those at the table that none of the other candidates came close to Lefty regarding those qualifications. And, that a great coach would have to be a little nutty to take the job. He was hired and Tom was given the responsibility to "take care of Lefty" during his time there. He did and they became close friends with a friendship which endured until Lefty's passing.

Tom tells a story about Georgia State's upset of Wisconsin in the first round of the 2001 NCAA in Boise. Lefty had invited Tom to sit on the bench with him for that game. It was very close game that Georgia State won 50-49. Late in the game Lefty called a timeout at a critical point in the game. The players and assistant coaches gathered around Lefty who kneeled with a clipboard in hand. Lefty hands the clipboard to Tom, stands up, and tells his players to look around the packed arena. "These people are pulling for you! And we are going to win this game. I want you to enjoy this moment and to remember it for the rest of your lives. Take a good, long look. " He goes on and on with the players about the special time they were experiencing. Tom kept trying to give Lefty the clipboard and the assistant coaches were getting nervous because the timeout was almost over. When the referee came over Lefty grabbed the clipboard and quickly diagrammed a play with 2 options as the referee made a second trip to the huddle. That was Lefty!