40 for 34 #29 - June 11

Post Season Disappointment

Len Bias’s strong season wasn’t enough for a deep tournament run.

Maryland’s players were beaming with contagious confidence and fully expected to make a strong run in the 1986 NCAA tournament. In Maryland’s first-round game against Pepperdine, a five point win, Bias hit another milestone. His 26 points left him with 712 points for the season, breaking the record he set the year before. Two of those points came from the foul line with 37 seconds remaining and Maryland clinging to a two-point lead.

In its next game, Maryland faced the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, which boasted a No. 11 national ranking and a 33-4 record. Bias played a bullish offensive game, scoring 19 of Maryland’s last 21 points and its last four from the foul line to pull the Terrapins within one point. But Maryland fell short, 70-64. Bias ended with 31 points, but he fouled out with three seconds remaining.

It was a fitting final Maryland performance for Bias during a season in which he carried a young team on his broad shoulders: another stellar individual performance diluted by team disappointment. Understandably, Bias lingered in front of his locker after the game, a towel draped over his head, his face buried in his hands. “I feel like we could have gone a lot further,” he said.

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

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