A look back at four infamous scandals in college sports
By Dani Bostick
Len Bias
A life cut short
Basketball star Len Bias drew comparisons to then second-year NBA player Michael Jordan as he enthralled fans and impressed scouts during his senior year at University of Maryland, just a few short miles from his hometown of Hyattsville. On June 17, 1986, the day he was drafted by the Celtics as the second-overall pick, Bias described watching the Celtics play two weeks prior:
"I sat right there behind the bench and watched them warm up, and it was a dream. I thought that could be me one day. It’s a dream within a dream. My first dream was just to play in the NBA. To get drafted by the world champions is an extra one."
He would never live out his dream. Two days later, he was dead.
In the day and night before his death, Bias met with Reebok about an endorsement deal and participated in a signing ceremony with the Celtics’ front office and coaches. Back in Maryland, Bias was in a celebratory mood. He picked up some friends in a new sports car, went out to dinner, and then did some lines of cocaine around 3 a.m. At 6:30 a.m. he had a seizure, fell unconscious, and stopped breathing. EMT and medical personnel at the nearby hospital were unable to revive him.
After the tragedy, the spotlight was on the University of Maryland and its basketball program. It was determined that Maryland’s head coach Lefty Driesell had told Bias’s teammates to remove drugs from his dorm room. Driesell denied condoning drug use among his players, but reporter Mark Hyman posed the question: “Was his style of discipline such that the kids thought it was OK to do this?” Both Driesell and athletic director Dick Dull resigned. Driesell had been the coach of the Terrapins for the better part of two decades.
The basketball team’s academic counselor resigned after evidence surfaced that Bias and other players had been failing classes and encouraged to pick easy majors. At the time it was somewhat scandalous that academics would be such a low priority for coaches and other entities entrusted with the development of athletes.
Where are they now?
Gun violence ended the life of Len’s brother. Their parents are now advocates against drugs and lax gun laws. For years, Dick Dull could not get a job in athletics, instead working as a real estate agent. From 1996-2005 he was an athletic director at several lesser-known schools including UC Northridge and Belmont Abbey College. Lefty Driesell retired after continuing his coaching career at JMU and Georgia State.
Next: Booster-sponsored debauchery