Maryland’s overdue recognition of Lefty Driesell

I salute John Feinstein for his Feb. 24 Sports column on the University of Maryland’s long-overdue recognition of former men’s basketball coach Lefty Driesell [“Maryland, at long last, honors Lefty”].

I attended Maryland before Mr. Driesell arrived, and I went to a lot of games while in school. Feet resting on the chair in front, coat sprawled across the chair next to me, I sat by myself in Cole Field House. I saw some great basketball, but it was played by Duke and North Carolina and just about every other team except Maryland.

Mr. Driesellchanged all that. I will never forget the 1974 game against North Carolina State that Mr. Feinstein mentioned. I was driving across the country at the time, and I watched it by myself in a dusty hotel bar somewhere in the Southwest. These were the two best teams in the country, and only one would go on to the NCAA Tournament. After the overtime loss, I was exhausted after countless yells of “Did you see that?” to an uninterested bartender.

Lefty made Maryland basketball happen.

Arthur Goldberg, Rockville