COLLEGE BASKETBALL : Book Struggles for Answers in Bias’ Death

In 1986, it was one of college basketball’s biggest stories. Len Bias, the 22-year-old forward at the University of Maryland, died of a cocaine overdose two days after the Boston Celtics drafted him in the first round.

If Bias represented the cutting edge of basketball style with his on-court blend of power and grace, his sudden, shocking death was in the vanguard of a new scourge, with a brutal theme that no matter how talented the individual, how promising his future or how true his personality, his previously charmed life could be taken in an instant.

Not long after Bias’ death, Cleveland Brown defensive back Don Rogers died of an overdose of cocaine in what was a fateful summer for young athletes, but it was the fatal message left by Bias that may have inspired a new awareness of the drug culture and how it affects athletes.

The actual circumstances of Bias’ death were never made clear. No one knows who bought the cocaine, no one who was in that dormitory room on the Maryland campus has said who brought the cocaine into the room, and no one can offer a complete picture of the last minutes of Len Bias’ life.

In death, Bias remains a haunted memory but also a contemporary one, the subject of a new book by Lewis Cole, called “Never Too Young To Die, the Death of Len Bias,” published by Pantheon Books.

“More than anything else, I wanted to convey the sense of longing and pain that people who knew Leonard might have felt,” Cole said. “This is a loss that’s happening to someone out there every day, every minute. If you feel that pain, maybe you’ll do something about it.”

Cole, who dedicated the book to his son, Aaron, was struck by the coincidence of the life cycle, how he could be welcoming someone into the world while another one was leaving it.

“I was riding in a cab, going to the hospital to see Aaron because he was just born, and I saw a newspaper clipping of Bias’ death,” Cole said. “It just hit me with a particular force. How could you ever see this happening? In some ways, the answer is, you can’t.”

Cole does not find fault with Brian Tribble, who was charged with obstruction of justice and later acquitted. Tribble was in the dormitory room and called 911 when Bias went into convulsions. If there is someone to be taken to task, he believes, it is the authority figures then at Maryland--Athletic Director Dick Dull and Coach Lefty Driesell.

According to court testimony and public documents, Driesell maintained publicly that he knew nothing about possible drug use when he actually had full knowledge, all the while attempting a sort of cover-up to limit his own involvement.

“I think Driesell should make some sort of public apology for what he did,” Cole said. “It wasn’t just because he lied, but he lied while being so falsely pious.”

Driesell, who now coaches at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., refused to comment.

Cole said when he tried to interview Driesell for the book, Driesell was polite but turned him down, saying he didn’t read books.

“You can never find a hero in this story,” Cole said. “With the possible exception of Mr. Bias (Len’s father, James), there was no one who stood up for the truth.”

This should not be surprising, considering there is not a tidy way to find the truth in the way Len Bias died. It could be this may just be how the Bias story ends.

“In some ways, he remains unrevenged,” Cole said. “A ghost . . . a tortured spirit.”

The final tab: Lynn Nance is the first-year coach at Washington, replacing the fired Andy Russo, who coached the Huskies to a 61-62 record in four seasons and was paid $204,320 for the remaining two years of his contract.

Cradle Dept.: After defeating Notre Dame Tuesday night, behind Calbert Cheaney’s 20 points, Indiana is unbeaten in four games going into its own tournament, a four-team event in which the Hoosiers begin play tonight against South Alabama. Should Knight’s Baby Bombers win, they would play the winner of the game between Cal State Long Beach and New Hampshire.

Coach Bob Knight’s starting lineup consists of four freshmen--Cheaney, Lawrence Funderburke, Greg Graham and Chris Reynolds--and sophomore Eric Anderson. Knight said he will not redshirt any of his seven-player recruiting class.

He’s covered: First-year Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino’s picture is on the cover of the Wildcats’ media guide, and other photos of Pitino appear on 12 of its first 20 pages.

Pitino has no player taller than 6-feet-7, which means Kentucky’s team is its smallest in 27 years. The same cannot be said for attendance. Even though NCAA sanctions will keep the Wildcats out of the postseason tournament and off live television, they have not affected tickets sales at Rupp Arena.

Only 15 of last season’s 16,000 season tickets were not reclaimed for this season. Those 15 were then distributed in a drawing from among 2,000 requests.

Splish, splash: Dennis Scott of Georgia Tech showers before games, a superstitious practice he said he began in high school.

Car and driver: The Las Vegas Review Journal made a lot of Nevada Las Vegas basketball fans angry when it investigated which cars players were driving and published its findings. Here is what the Review Journal said about the Runnin’ Rebels’ and their driving machines. Happy motoring:

--Anderson Hunt, 1989 BMW convertible, believed to be his girlfriend’s.

--Stacey Augmon, 1988 Mustang GT coupe.

--Greg Anthony, 1983 BMW sedan and 1986 Nissan 280-ZX.

--Larry Johnson, 1989 Nissan.