Teammate Says Bias Supplied Him Cocaine

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — David Gregg, a University of Maryland teammate of basketball star Len Bias, said today that the All-America athlete who died last year of cocaine intoxication supplied him with the drug about three times.

Gregg’s testimony came in the fourth day of the trial in Prince George’s County Circuit Court of Brian Tribble, the man accused of supplying Bias with the drug that killed him.

Gregg said he first used cocaine two years ago, when he was a freshman in college, and had used it eight to 10 times, “four or five with Bias.”

When asked how many times Bias supplied him with the drug, Gregg said, “about three times.”

Drug Network Suspected

The prosecution has said it will prove Bias was a “courtesy middleman” in a drug network involving Tribble and teen-ager Terrence Moore.

Gregg’s testimony about the events leading to Bias’ death paralleled that Wednesday by another teammate, Terry Long.

Tribble and Bias were together in a dormitory room when Bias collapsed last June 19 during a celebration of Bias’ contract with the NBA champion Boston Celtics.

Gregg said that in the early morning of June 19, when he saw cocaine on a table in Long’s dorm room, he asked Tribble: “Where did you all get this from?”

“He (Tribble) said it came from the bottom of the stash. He said a kilo is coming tomorrow,” Gregg said.

Party Interrupted

Long testified that he was awakened by Bias at about 2:30 a.m. June 19 for the celebration. He said he left the room for a moment, and when he returned Bias and Tribble were standing around a large quantity of cocaine.

Long said the party was interrupted when Jeff Baxter, a Maryland player, walked into the room. Long said the others hid the cocaine in a desk drawer because Baxter “did not do drugs.”

Long said Baxter stayed for about 45 minutes, and after he left, the cocaine-snorting continued. Around 6:30 a.m., Long said, Bias appeared “messed up.’

Five minutes later Bias went into convulsions, and moments later Tribble called his mother, then called paramedics to the scene.

During the cross-examination, Long was asked if he feared that cocaine would show up on the drug test given to all players.

“The urinalysis is basically a joke,” he said.