40 for 34 #21 - June 5

Senior Struggles?

Len Bias put up big numbers early in his

senior season, but the team struggled.

As Bias began his senior season, Maryland returned three starters from its NCAA Sweet 16 team and was ranked No. 19 in the country. But, ominously, Bias sprained an ankle in a pickup game in late October and missed a few days of practice. In a season-opening win against Northeastern, Bias fouled out, but came back emphatically the next game with a career-best 33 points in a one-point win over George Mason.

After Bias scored 28 in a loss to No. 3-ranked Duke in early January, he had tallied at least 20 points in 10 of Maryland’s 12 games. But Bias commented in a Washington Post report that a lack of scoring balance was becoming a concern. “Everyone isn’t looking for their shot,” he said. “They’re depending too much on one person.”

By the time Maryland faced No. 1 North Carolina on January 14, they were 10-4 and 0-2 in the ACC. Maryland lost that game as well as its next three, all to ACC opponents. In a 12-point loss to Duke, Bias scored a career-best 41 points. After the game, Duke forward Mark Alarie commented that focusing too much on Bias may have been hurting the team. “When [Bias] has the ball one on one, you can’t stop him,” he said. “But the rest of the time it’s hard for the other players to get into the flow of the offense, because the basis of it is to get the ball to him.”

Excerpted from the book,

Born Ready: the Mixed Legacy of Len Bias

Buy autographed copies

as a Father's Day Gift

The audio for this post was narrated by the author,

Dave Ungrady.

And listen to more about Len's early life in Episode 2 of the narrative podcast series, Len Bias: A Mixed Legacy