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Intl. Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame
"Sports World Specials; Driesell Reflects"
Frank Litsky and Robert Thomas Jr.
New York Times
June 8, 1987
LEAD: Almost a year after the University of Maryland basketball star, Len Bias, died of cocaine intoxication, Lefty Driesell, the former Terrapin coach, is still having trouble reconciling himself to the tragedy.
Almost a year after the University of Maryland basketball star, Len Bias, died of cocaine intoxication, Lefty Driesell, the former Terrapin coach, is still having trouble reconciling himself to the tragedy.
"I didn't get to Len for some reason," Driesell told a conference on drug abuse in sports at the University of Rhode Island last week. "He was one of the nicest young men I have ever known, and the thought of him putting cocaine up his nose is just terrible beyond belief. I didn't even think he drank beer, and when he died I was convinced it was a heart attack."
Driesell noted that cocaine has been a continuing problem among Atlantic Coast Conference players and former players. "Five of the best players we've ever had have all admitted having drug problems," he said, citing Bias; David Thompson, the former North Carolina State star, ("the best player I ever saw in the conference") as well as John Lucas of Maryland and Phil Ford and Walter Davis of North Carolina.
In response to questions, Driesell said he would not be shocked to learn that cocaine use had affected the outcome of games.
Without being specific, he said he felt that the performances of some players in the A.C.C. - as well as in other conferences - might have been enhanced by the use of cocaine. Noting that players who used drugs could be vulnerable to blackmail by gamblers, he said he would not be surprised if drug abuse led to the fixing of games. 'The A.C.C. gets a lot of exposure and there's a lot of betting on basketball games,' he said.
Asked if he had been made a scapegoat for Bias's death, Driesell, who still serves as an assistant athletic director at Maryland, ducked the question with a smile. "I'm still being paid by that school," he said.