Len Bias(1963-1986)
Considered by many to be one of the greatest college basketball players
of the modern era. During the 1985 and 1986 seasons, this unheralded
Northwestern High School (Hyattsville, MD) product asserted himself
into the forward spot at the University of Maryland. His highlight-reel
performances, including his one-man show (30+ points) against North
Carolina en route to the first-ever win in the Dean Dome in 1986, made
him a player to watch. He was the second pick taken by the Boston
Celtics in the 1986 NBA Draft, expected to pick up where a
retirement-bound Larry Bird left off. Tragically, that would never come
to pass. Three days after being drafted, Bias spent a night partying
with friends and snorting cocaine in his University of Maryland dorm
room. Overtaken by heart failure, he died shortly after. Bias' death
was a shock to the nation, and shed light on substance abuse within the
sports arena. The University of Maryland was plunged into the abyss
that, thankfully, they have pulled out of. But their success is due in
no small part to the one who wore #34.
