Chuck Driesell

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Chuck Driesell
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamMaret School
ConferenceMid-Atlantic Athletic
Biographical details
Born (1962-11-03) November 3, 1962 (age 61)
Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.
Playing career
1981–1985Maryland
Position(s)Shooting guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1985–1988Naval Academy Prep
1989–1996James Madison (assoc. HC)
1997–2003Marymount
2003–2004Georgetown (asst./RC)
2004–2006Bishop Ireton HS
2006–2010Maryland (asst.)
2010–2015The Citadel
2015–presentMaret HS
Head coaching record
Overall130–185
Tournaments0–1 (NCAA D-III)

Charles William Driesell (born November 3, 1962)[1] is an American basketball coach who is the boys' varsity basketball head coach at the Maret School in Washington, D.C. Formerly a college basketball coach, Driesell served as an assistant coach under Gary Williams at the University of Maryland, spent six seasons as head coach at Marymount University (1997 to 2003), and was head coach at The Citadel from 2010 to 2015. He is the son of former Maryland coach Lefty Driesell, and played for his father's team in college. Driesell was named the new boys' basketball coach at the Maret School in Washington, D.C. in the summer of 2015.

Early life and college[edit]

Driesell was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, the son of Davidson College basketball coach Charles Grice "Lefty" Driesell.[1] As a child, Chuck was a water boy and ball boy while his father served as the long-time head basketball coach at the University of Maryland. Lefty Driesell coached there from 1969 to 1986 and invented the "Midnight Madness" rally.[2][3]

Chuck attended the University of Maryland, and played on the basketball team coached by his father as a shooting guard from 1981 to 1985. Driesell participated in four postseason tournaments (one NIT and three NCAA) and was also a member of the 1984 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) championship team. Driesell received Academic All-American honors and made the ACC Honor Roll three years. He graduated in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in business marketing.[4]

Coaching career[edit]

After college, Driesell served three years in the United States Navy and attained the rank of lieutenant. He coached the Naval Academy Preparatory School (NAPS) from 1985 to 1988 and compiled a 40–29 record. In 1989, he joined his father, Lefty, as the associate head coach at James Madison. He coached there until 1994, and during that time, the Dukes won five consecutive outright or shared Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) regular-season championships, which was an NCAA record at the time. James Madison participated in the 1994 NCAA tournament, where they were eliminated in the first round by third-seeded Florida, an eventual semifinalist team.[4]

From 1997 to 2003, Driesell was the head coach at Marymount University, a Division III school in Arlington, Virginia. In 1999, he also assumed the role of assistant athletic director. During his six-year tenure as head coach, the Saints compiled an 88–72 record, and secured the 2000 Capital Athletic Conference tournament championship and the team's first-ever bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. During the 2003–04 season, he worked at Georgetown as the Hoyas' recruiting coordinator and an assistant coach. From 2004 to 2006, he was the head coach of the Bishop Ireton High School basketball team.[4]

In 2006, Driesell was hired by Gary Williams as an assistant coach at the University of Maryland, the alma mater of both men. Williams said Driesell was hired strictly on his merits, and said, "Chuck was hired based on what he was as a basketball coach. Naturally, genes don't hurt, but I wouldn't hire someone just because he is someone's son if I didn't think he was a very good basketball coach."[2] Driesell replaced Rob Moxley who left for a position at the UNC Charlotte.[5] Driesell served as Maryland's lead recruiting coordinator and was the assistant coach responsible for "advance scouting, player development, and game preparation."[4]

On April 28, 2010, Driesell was hired as head coach of The Citadel.[6][7] He replaced Ed Conroy, who had left for Tulane.[8] Since being at The Citadel, Driesell has won only 27.1 percent of his games. With four players returning who had started since their freshman years, Driesell only won ten games, the lowest number of wins for those players since they were freshman. On March 10, 2015, The Citadel announced that it would not renew Drisell's contract.[9]

On April 22, 2015, San Jose State head coach Dave Wojcik added Driesell to his staff as an assistant coach.[10] Wojcik had been an assistant coach at James Madison under Lefty Driesell. However, on June 5 Driesell was named as head coach of the Maret School in Washington, D.C.[11]

In his second year at Maret, he led the team to a MAC (Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference) Co-Championship, as well as the DCSAA (District of Columbia State Athletic Association) finals, where they lost to Gonzaga College High School 77–66.

Head coaching record[edit]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Marymount Saints[12] (Capital Athletic Conference) (1997–2003)
1997–98 Marymount 13–13 9–5 3rd
1998–99 Marymount 14–11 8–6 3rd
1999–00 Marymount 16–12 9–5 3rd NCAA D-III first round
2000–01 Marymount 12–15 6–8 T–5th
2001–02 Marymount 19–9 10–4 3rd
2002–03 Marymount 14–12 8–6 4th
Marymount: 88–72 50–34
The Citadel Bulldogs (Southern Conference) (2010–2015)
2010–11 The Citadel 10–22 6–12 5th (South)
2011–12 The Citadel 6–24 3–15 6th (South)
2012–13 The Citadel 8–22 5–13 5th (South)
2013–14 The Citadel 7–26 2–14 11th
2014–15 The Citadel 11–19 6–12 T–7th
The Citadel: 42–113 22–66
Total: 130–185

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Charles William "Chuck" Driesell". Maryland Basketball 1981-82. University of Maryland College Park. 1981. pp. 30–31. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  2. ^ a b Eric Prisbell (June 3, 2006). "C. Driesell is hired as Maryland assistant". The Washington Post.
  3. ^ "Lefty's midnight run started all the Madness". ESPN. October 13, 2008. Archived from the original on March 26, 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d "Chuck Driesell". University of Maryland. 2009. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  5. ^ "Terps hire Chuck Driesell to fill assistant coach spot". The Diamondback. June 8, 2006.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ Jeff Barker (2010-04-26). "Chuck Driesell to coach The Citadel". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  7. ^ Steve Yanda (2010-04-26). "Chuck Driesell to be named head coach at The Citadel". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  8. ^ "Citadel hires Chuck Driesell". Sports Illustrated. April 28, 2010.
  9. ^ "Driesell's Contract not Renewed by The Citadel". The Citadel Athletics. March 9, 2015. Archived from the original on March 10, 2015. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  10. ^ Jeff Hartsell (April 22, 2015). "Citadel Notes: Duggar Baucom names staff; Chuck Driesell hired at San Jose State". Post and Courier. Retrieved April 22, 2015.
  11. ^ Parker, Brandon (June 5, 2015). "Boys' basketball: Maret hires Chuck Driesell as its new coach". Retrieved June 23, 2015.
  12. ^ Capital Athletic Conference Men's Basketball[permanent dead link]. pp. 87-89.