Pitt's Jeff Capel Remembers Legacy of Lefty Driesell
PITTSBURGH -- The college basketball world lost a giant this week, when Hall of Fame coach Lefty Driesell passed away at his home in Virginia at the age of 92. Pitt Panthers head coach Jeff Capel had a personal relationship with Driesell and took a moment from his postgame press conference following a win over Louisville to remember the legendary coach.
"I hated it when I heard the news when I woke up this morning," the Pitt coach said. "I got to know him even better during the seven years I worked at Duke because of his relationship with Coach [Mike Krzyzewski]. So I hate it. The basketball world lost a great coach but also one of its greatest people."
Best known for his 17 seasons as the head coach at Maryland, Driesell was the first to win more than 100 games at four different Division I schools.
He was truly a winner at every stop of his career. Driesell led Davidson to five regular season Southern Conference championships, three conference tournament championships, three NCAA Tournament appearances and four top 10 finishes in the AP Poll. Under his leadership, the Terrapins won three combined regular season and conference titles and earned eight NCAA Tournament appearances.
His tenure in College Park ended with the death of superstar Len Bias in 1986 and over the next two decades, he won nine conference titles with James Madison and Georgia State and went back to the Big Dance two more times.
Driesell ended his career with nine conference Coach of the Year awards and 786 wins, which ranks 15th all-time. But for all he did on the court, Capel remembers him more as a colorful personality outside of basketball. He knew Driesell through his father, who coached against Driesell's James Madison squads when he was at Old Dominion.
"When I got into coaching, he was always a guy that was a soundboard," Capel said. "He was one of the funniest human beings, he was an unbelievable coach."
Capel was simply glad that Driesell got a chance to be honored at the Hall of Fame while he was still alive and give the world one last taste of his personable and hilarious self before passing.
"I’m really glad that he was able to get into the Hall of Fame while he was still alive, where he could get up there and speak and be Lefty and everyone’s laughing," Capel said. "He was just a joy to be around."
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