https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituarie...land-dead/

Rest in peace.

Such great memories. From a time when basketball was king and Lefty was firing up the troops. The ACC wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining throughout my childhood without him.

I miss the reverse hex on free throw shooters.

Maryland stopped being an ACC team with Lefty's departure.

The quickest way to shut up a Duke crowd in the Coliseum during the tournament was the chant......Lefty went to Duke, Lefty went to Duke, Lefty went to Duke.


Loved the Lefty Stomp


When Lefty was at Davidson he "forgot" an appointment to interview Rick Barnes for an assistant's job.
The appointment was at 10 AM, Barnes showed up at 9. Lefty secretary explained she didn't know where Lefty was so Barnes waited and waited until 4 when Lefty showed after being on the golf course all day, he was so impressed with the North Carolina High School Coach's (Barnes) tenacity, he gave him the job on the spot.

All the coaches from my childhood are passing .... late 70's through the 80's.

Is anyone left from that era?

In a related question, which coach is still with us, who won the earliest NCAA championship?

Seems like a decent google exercise for a Sunday afternoon .... Let's see ...


1974 - NC State - Norm Sloan (passed away 2003)
1975 - UCLA - John Wooden (passed away 2010)
1976 - Indiana - Bob Knight (passed away 2023)
1977 - Marquette - Al McGuire (passed away 2001)
1978 - Kentucky - Joe B Hall (passed away 2022)
1979 - Michigan State - Jud Heathcote (passed away 2017)
1980 - Louisville - Denny Crum (passed away 2023)
1981 - Indiana, Bob Knight again
1982 - North Carolina, Dean Smith (passed away 2015)
1983 - NC State - Jimmy Valvano (passed away 1993)
1984 - Georgetown - John Thompson (passed away 2020)
1985 - Villanova - Rollie Massimino (passed away 2017 (2 days after Jud Heathcote))
1986 - Louisville, Denny Crum again
1987 - Indiana, Bob Knight again

1988 - Kansas, Larry Brown --- DING DING DING, we have a winner Larry is still kicking it! Born Sept 4, 1940 -- He's 83 years old.

1989 - Michigan - Steve Fisher - also still with us. Born in 1945.
1990 - UNLV - Jerry Tarkanian (passed away 2015)
1991 - Duke - Coach K - born in 1947
1992 - Duke - Coach K - see above
1993 - North Carolina, Dean Smith again
1994 - Arkansas - Nolan Richardson - born in 1941
1995 - UCLA - Jim Harrick - born in 1938
1996 - Kentucky - Rick Pitino - born in 1952
1997 - Arizona - Lute Olson (passed away 2020)
1998 - Kentucky - Tubby Smith - born in 1951
1999 - UConn - Jim Calhoun - born in 1942
2000 - Michigan State - Tom Izzo - born in 1955

Really liked Lefty. Enjoyed watching his Maryland teams in the 80’s.

I always though of Lefty as a blue-collar coach. He wasn't very polished in front of a mic or camera but he could coach with the best of them.

I call Maryland "Murlin" because of Lefty.

RIP, coach.