Maryland Athletic Director Resigns Amid Bias Case Upheaval

Dick Dull resigned as athletic director of the University of Maryland Tuesday, saying he had been contemplating resigning for as long as two years but also admitting that the upheaval in the department in the wake of the cocaine-induced death of basketball player Len Bias last June had also taken its toll.

Dull will serve Chancellor John B. Slaughter for a year as an adviser on athletic and policy program issues after stepping aside on Nov. 1. He also will be available on an as-needed basis for nine months after that.

Charles F. Sturtz, vice-chancellor for administrative affairs, will serve as athletic director on an interim basis, Slaughter said, while a national search is conducted for a permanent replacement.

Slaughter announced the resignation at a news conference, but he declined to discuss the status of basketball Coach Lefty Driesell.

The 41-year-old Dull, in his sixth year as athletic director, has publicly supported Driesell in the wake of charges against his program by Prince George’s County prosecutor Arthur A. Marshall.

Slaughter said major changes in the athletic department were upcoming, but he reiterated that he would not address them until he receives all the information he seeks.

A report from an academic task force that Slaughter created will be made public on Friday. But he still awaits the grand jury report and a special in-house investigation of Driesell he initiated recently.

Dull said he met with Slaughter two months before Bias died of cocaine intoxication, seeking career counseling. But the meeting never came off. After Bias died, Dull said, he was determined to see the situation through to a completion.

“By Nov. 1,” he said, “most issues should be resolved. It’s appropriate right now for my personal happiness and future that I step aside.”

Dull, a former lawyer, said he had interests in other areas he wanted to pursue, without naming them. He did say he was not a candidate for other athletic director jobs.

“I haven’t done anything that I’m ashamed of,” Dull said. “Obviously, I’ve made some mistakes, that’s the human condition. But on balance, I’m pleased with the performance I’ve provided.”