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We focused on Grant Hill when he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame but of course he wasn’t the only Blue Devil to make it: Lefty Driesell was inducted as well.
Lefty graduated from Duke in 1954 and during much of his coaching career had an antagonistic relationship with Duke.
No big surprise - he did with just about everyone. At one ACC coaches meeting, Dean Smith left the room and Lefty supposedly said “we gotta get that guy.”
A lot of it was bluster of course. He boasted that when he won the ACC Tournament, he would strap the trophy to the hood of his car and drive around North Carolina.
Like Smith and Norm Sloan at NC State, it’s hard to see people clearly through the fire of competition but looking back, Lefty was a good coach, a brilliant recruiter, and a huge amount of fun.
ACC basketball was never more interesting than when he was broadcasting. He was just great.
He’s also a great storyteller and speaker which you’ll see in his Hall of Fame speech here.
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