Charles William Driesell (born November 3, 1962) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach who is the boys' varsity basketball head coach at the

Maret School Maret School is a coeducational, K–12 independent school in Washington, D.C. It was founded by Marthe Maret in 1911 as a French primary school for girls and boys. History In the late 1800s and early 1900s, three French sisters, Mlles Marth ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Formerly a

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach, Driesell served as an assistant coach under

Gary Williams Gary Bruce Williams (born March 4, 1945) is an American university administrator and former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Maryland, the Ohio State University, Boston College, and American University. I ...

at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

, spent six seasons as head coach at

Marymount University Marymount University is a private Catholic university with its main campus in Arlington, Virginia. Marymount offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. It has approximately 3,897 students enrolled, representing approximately 45 states an ...

(1997 to 2003), and was head coach at

The Citadel The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one of six senior military colleges in the United States. ...

from 2010 to 2015. He is the son of former

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

coach

Lefty Driesell Charles Grice "Lefty" Driesell (born December 25, 1931) is a retired American college basketball coach. He was the first coach to win more than 100 games at four different NCAA Division I schools, Driesell led the programs of Davidson College, ...

, 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

Driesell was born in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, the son of Davidson College basketball coach Charles Grice "Lefty" Driesell. As a child, Chuck was a

water boy In the United States, a water boy or water girl (sometimes spelled waterboy or watergirl) was someone who worked in the field, providing water to farm workers in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, the name is given to those who work on the ...

and

ball boy Ball boys and ball girls, also known as ball kids are individuals, usually human youths but sometimes dogs, who retrieve and supply balls for players or officials in sports such as association football, American football, bandy, cricket, tenn ...

while his father served as the long-time head basketball coach at the

. Lefty Driesell coached there from 1969 to 1986 and invented the " Midnight Madness" rally. Chuck attended the

, 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 The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

) 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 A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

business marketing Business marketing is a marketing practice of individuals or organizations (including commercial businesses, governments and institutions). It allows them to sell products or services to other companies or organizations that resell them, use them ...

Coaching career

After college, Driesell served three years in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

and attained the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

. 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 . 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 Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, an eventual semifinalist team. From 1997 to 2003, Driesell was the head coach at

, a

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

school in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

. In 1999, he also assumed the role of assistant

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches an ...

. During his six-year tenure as head coach, the Saints compiled an 88–72 record, and secured the 2000

Capital Athletic Conference The Coast to Coast Athletic Conference (C2C; officially stylized as Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference), formerly named Capital Athletic Conference (CAC), is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member i ...

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 Bishop Ireton High School is a Roman Catholic high school located in Alexandria, Virginia, less than one mile from Old Town Alexandria. The school was founded in 1964 by the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, and named in honor of Peter Leo Ireton, ...

basketball team. In 2006, Driesell was hired by

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." Driesell replaced Rob Moxley who left for a position at the

UNC Charlotte The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs through nine colle ...

. Driesell served as Maryland's lead recruiting coordinator and was the assistant coach responsible for "advance scouting, player development, and game preparation." On April 28, 2010, Driesell was hired as head coach of

. He replaced Ed Conroy, who had left for

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

. 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. On April 22, 2015,

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

head coach

Dave Wojcik David Edward Wojcik (born December 12, 1968) is an American college basketball coach who was most recently head men's basketball coach at San Jose State. His brother, Doug, was also a head coach at the NCAA Division I men's level for basketball ...

added Driesell to his staff as an assistant coach. Wojcik had been an assistant coach at

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...

under Lefty Driesell. However, on June 5 Driesell was named as head coach of the

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 Gonzaga College High School is a private Catholic college-preparatory high school for boys in Washington, D.C. Founded by the Jesuits in 1821 as the Washington Seminary, Gonzaga is named in honor of Aloysius Gonzaga, an Italian saint from the 1 ...

77–66.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Driesell, Chuck 1962 births Living people American men's basketball coaches Basketball players from Maryland College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in the United States James Madison Dukes men's basketball coaches Maryland Terrapins men's basketball coaches Maryland Terrapins men's basketball players People from Silver Spring, Maryland Shooting guards Basketball players from Charlotte, North Carolina The Citadel Bulldogs basketball coaches United States Navy officers American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Maryland