Jeff Baxter

A Long Transition to Acceptance

Once burdened by the death of Bias, his close friend and roommate of four years, Jeff Baxter now talks comfortably about the trying times he endured in the few years that followed. He agreed to be interviewed for Without Bias but says that in the past he has mostly been very guarded about what he has discussed. Baxter agreed to talk at length because he says he has nothing to hide. “It took a while for me to come to grips with it,” he says. “I avoided countless interviews with numerous people over the years, and only because I thought at the time that it may be a target session for Coach Driesell and Lenny’s family. I can see why it haunts a lot of people.”

Baxter says that, until a few years ago, something would happen every day that would make him think about Bias. Now, he mostly reflects on his friend and teammate only when asked. At the D.C.- area premiere of Without Bias in 2010, Baxter abruptly walked away from the entrance before the showing when he saw cameras. He says he waited across the street until the excitement faded. “That wasn’t a celebratory moment to me,” he says.“That wasn’t a moment to gain or regain fame.” During a bathroom break that night, Baxter spotted Steve Francis, a Maryland star for just one year in 1998 before joining the NBA. Francis was crying so hysterically that Baxter remembers him barely able to stand up. “He said ‘You guys were the reason I went [to Maryland],’ ” says Baxter. “But I’m sure he meant Lenny, because he was the star.” To Baxter, Bias’s legacy is simple: He was a great basketball player who made a bad choice. As he sat alone at the Saloun the evening of June 19, 1986, Baxter realized that life was too short and that one never knows what will happen next. He says Bias’s death solidified lessons his parents had taught him. “You’ve just got to be careful about the choices you make, because not all of them are going to be right,” he says.

Excerpted from the book, Born Ready: the Mixed Legacy of Len Bias

Learn about the Born Ready Project that teaches life skills, using Len’s legacy as a teaching tool.

50 for 50 – Len Bias’ Golden Moments #30…Ross Resigns

Through Nov. 18, Len Bias’ 50th birthday, the Born Ready Blog will provide each day a new item that helped define Len’s legacy, 50 in total.

Unsure of Academic Standards, Ross Quits

Head football coach Bobby Ross’s reaction to a win in the last game, against Virginia in Charlottesville, typified the feelings of that season. On the first half of his car ride home, he traveled north on Virginia Route 29, a rolling four-lane highway that passes through the bucolic Shenandoah Valley of central Virginia. Such a drive normally prompts peaceful and reflective thoughts. But despite the Terrapins’ commanding 42- 10 win, the mood on the ride back for Ross, his wife and four of his five children was far from either serene or celebratory. It was during that 2 1/2-hour ride that the Ross family had a long talk about Dad’s future. They decided that he would step down as Maryland’s head coach. Maryland finished the season 5-5-1. It was the worst record in Ross’s five year Maryland career.

Not long before that ride, Ross had met with acting Athletic Director Charles Sturtz to discuss the university’s admissions policy and how it might affect the future of Maryland athletics. In the meeting, Ross sought clarification about Maryland’s admissions policy, which was being scrutinized following Bias’s death. He was told it could be as long as three or four years before it would all be settled. “That’s when I started to think about it,” says Ross. “Not having a defined direction and all the other distractions, I felt it was time to move on.” Ross resigned on December 1, 1986, and says he told his players he was leaving because he felt “at that time, they needed a change, and I needed a change.

Excerpted from the book, Born Ready: the Mixed Legacy of Len Bias

Learn about the Born Ready Project that teaches life skills, using Len’s legacy as a teaching tool.

Find out about the Born Ready Hoops Festival  Nov. 22-24, that will honor Len’s legacy as a basketball player.