(UPDATED) "Lefty" Driesell dies.

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https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/02/17/maryland-honors-lefty-driesell/

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Joyce Driesell accompanies her husband, former Maryland Terrapins men’s basketball head coach Lefty Driesell, who acknowledges the arena during a halftime acknowledgement of an ACC game between the Maryland Terrapins and Clemson Tigers Saturday, Feb 23, 2013. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun Staff)

(2/17/24)

Charles Grice “Lefty” Driesell, the brash, folksy Hall of Fame coach who elevated the University of Maryland’s men’s basketball program by collecting 348 wins after promising that he would turn the program into the “UCLA of the East,” died Saturday, his family said.

He was 92.

Driesell died at the Virginia Beach, Virginia, home where he had lived for years overlooking the Chesapeake Bay. His health had been declining since his wife, Joyce, died in 2021, said his daughter, Pam Driesell.

“While our hearts are heavy with grief, we also give thanks to God for the 92 years Dad stirred up excitement, laughter, and fun in this world,” said a statement from his four grown children.

“From coaching on the basketball court to recruiting on the road to boating on the Delaware Bay to body surfing at Bethany Beach — there are endless stories and memories of Lefty adventure and antics. True to form, Dad took his life into OT and eventually went out just the way he wanted to – in his home overlooking the Chesapeake Bay and the beach where he courted his lifelong sweetheart, our mom, Joyce Gunter.”

Driesell coached Maryland for 17 seasons, amassing a win total that ranks him second in school history behind Gary Williams.