Fallout? Len destroyed the athletic program that night. It took ten years to recover.

I'll try to watch the "story" but his "friends" turned out to be his worst enemies.

I read a little about this seems like a sad thing. You have to wonder why someone with everything ahead of them in college and a professional career would go the drug route. I think I read he had signed a Rebok contract worth millions. Timelines see to be the all important factor in some of these cases. Who was with them, who was where at what time. Apparently though this young man did not see the danger in the drug abuse. You would think more drug testing for athletes. I know companies require it. Athletes should be held to high moral and academic standards.

Still wondering how the McNair murder/suicide timeline came out. I have to go back and check on that one. The timeline was in question.

i could not believe when
i heard the news of len bias.

he passed way before his time....the maryland basketball
program and head coach took
years to recover....

hard to believe len is gone,
he would have been a star player
for the celtics for many many
years......

The death of Len Bias ended the regime of Lefty Driesel but in of itself did not so ruin the athletic department that it took ten years to recover. Bias' death exposed several problems under the Driesell administration and forced his resignation.

If a strong coach had been brought in to clean up the program, things might have been different. But, no, they chose Bob Wade and his hiring was the final nail. Wade might have been an outstanding high school basketball coach and administrator, but he was wholly unprepared to compete in the ACC.

Wade had his own scandals with which to deal and it all culminated just three years later with the hiring of Gary Williams. Hard to believe Coach Williams has been with the school for twenty years.

Thanks, Ken. As a UM alum, I had soem of the same thoughts as the ones you deftly captured in the last couple of sentences. This film does trigger such thinking -- which is a good thing. Thanks. Z

Bad company corrupts good character.

All one needs to look at was the autopsy report. This was NOT the first time Leonard (as Lefty called him) snorted cocaine.

we love and miss you lenny! rest in peace, bro.

My father is a retired PG police officer and was working in the homicide division when Bias died...My dad was part of the homicidial investigative team into Bias's death. As Rob K already stated, it was NOT the first time Len Bias snorted cocaine. It was WIDELY known that not only was Len doing coke, he was involved in dealing coke as well.

On the night of his death, Len snorted coke the entire night, had several sexual encounters; and his last words (on record) when one of his "friends" told him to slow down on his coke use, Bias said, "I'm the baddest m******** in the world." He then went into cardiac arrest.

Other posters are correct in stating that Bias' death brought to light the drug use inside the Maryland basketball program; and also ended the career of Lefty .

The only reason Lefty did NOT testify is that he was offered a resignation instead.

Bias' death exposed several problems under the Driesell administration... sort of. The fact is, the job description of major-college basketball coach changed between the early 1970's and mid-1980's, but Left didn't change. After Bias' death, many critics charged that Lefty did not emphasize academics. But former Terps Billy Hahn and Tom McMillen wrote to the Washington Post to refute those claims, stating that Coach Driesell always stressed the importance of academics. IMHO, the problem was that academic requirements for athletes across the board in college programs were relaxed, and it was no longer enough for a coach to tell the players to study and to allow time for it; rather, they had to be babysitters.

I still remember where I was when I heard Lenny died. Couldn't believe it. Several guys in that draft failed in basketball and life because of drugs (Washburn, Tarpley, Bedford). Sad and shocking to learn of the drug use when he always publicly spoke against it. I'm sure many have felt let down by that but in the end I have an incredible highlight reel in my head-the steal and reverse dunk at the opening of Carolina's new arena, the second half of the '84 ACC tourn game against Duke, the banked jump shot we see Tim Duncan do now, hundreds of alley-oops from Gatlin....

If you haven't already, read John Feinstein's book on the Boston Celtics (sorry, I don't remember the name right now) and the section on Len Bias. His death hit the Celtics pretty hard as well. I was sitting poolside at Padonia Park Club on a nice sunny day just crying over it and all the waste of talent and life and the hurt involved for so many people - his family, his friends, the sport of basketball in general and Maryland and the Celtics in particular, etc.

I am a Celtics fan and was looking forward to Bias coming to my team. I was 16 at the time.

I have done many foolish things in my life, but coke (or any hard drug) is not one of them.

Len may not be the saint his friends made him out to be and he is almost certainly not the complete jerk as some make him out to be, but his death is THE reason I never did hard drugs.

Thanks for that, Len. Considering the close calls I've had without coke, you probably saved my life, or at least my liberty.

Semper Fi,
Terry

Scott-

Were they snorting it or smoking it? I'm from DC and was always under the impression they were smoking crack cocaine. In the documentary Tribble says they snorted it. Just curious. Thanks.

David,

This article says he was smoking the cocaine. Either way I am not sure it matters the end result is he died from it. What a tragedy.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1320&dat=19860710&id=o5IRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9ekDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4923,2627944