The Len Bias Legacy - Timeline

Dave Ungrady

Aug 28

3 min read

August 28, 1989

Walt Williams Chooses

to Stay at Maryland

Walt Williams finished his four years at Maryland and surpassed the single season scoring record set by Bias, scoring 776 points in 1992. By staying at Maryland during challenging times for the program, he secured a legacy as one of the most revered players in Maryland basketball history. Williams was the 7th overall pick in the NBA draft in 1992. He played 11 season in the NBA.

*As appeared in the Washington Post, August 28, 1986*

From Walt Williams in the book, Legends of Maryland Basketball

I was a very big Len Bias fan. It was a big thing for me to go to Maryland and follow in his footsteps. That was a part of me staying at Maryland. Maryland had gone through so many things with [the death of] Bias. People forget all the good he did. He made me feel like I can do well in basketball because I saw him do it.

From Gary Williams, former Maryland basketball coach,

in the podcast series, Len Bias: A Mixed Legacy

So what happens when you get sanctions against you by the NCAA, at least back then, you were allowed to transfer to any school you wanted to and play right away. He had come off a very good sophomore year my first year there and the sanctions came out that spring and so he could go anywhere he wanted to to play.

And he came to me in the office one day right after the season's over. I figured out, here it goes. I wondered where he's going to school because a lot of my so called friends in coaching certainly had contacted him and would have loved to see him go to their school because he'd be so good. We started talking, it was really good because Walt explained how important it was that his parents got to see him play and he really believed that he could be a great player, that he could be an NBA player. And Walt put it on me. He said, 'well how are you going to make that happen if i stay?" And i said you're going to get a chance to play the point guard, you're going to handle the ball, you're going to be able to really look for threes. Walt set a couple of records during that time that people have a tendency to forget. Seven straight ACC games he scored of 30 or more per game and 19 straight, 20 or more points per game.

And nobody's been a better diplomat for the school than Walt Williams has over the years since he he's finished playing.

Much of the content presented in the Timelines was produced in 2022 by Enzo Alvarenga, a University of Maryland Journalism student at the time. Enzo died in an accident while riding a bicycle when he was working as a volunteer on the project. The honor his memory, the University of Maryland Philip Merrill Collefge of Journalism has established the Enzo Bibes Alvarenga Endowed Scholarship in Journalism. For more information and to support the scholarship, click the button below.

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