Basketball: Park View, ELBL to Host Author Dave Ungrady on Nov. 17

(Nov. 12, 2012) - The Park View High School basketball program and Eastern Loudoun Basketball League are co-hosting author and journalist Dave Ungrady on Nov. 17, who will speak about the legacy of former Maryland basketball star Len Bias.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with Ungrady speaking at 7 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults with children free. There will be a book signing for $20 with $5 of that fee given back to the ELBL.

Ungrady, a resident of Clarke's Gap near Leesburg, will talk about the importance of decision making as part of he Born Ready Project, a program that teaches decision making and resilience to middle school through college students.


The Born Ready Project was developed from Ungrady's most recent book, Born Ready: The Mixed Legacy of Len Bias.

Bias was a two-time All-All American from the University of Maryland who died of a cocaine overdose two days after the Boston Celtics made him the number two pick overall in the 1986 NBA draft.

His death prompted dramatic social change related to drug use and penalties for drug criminals, and has had a lasting impact on the Maryland athletic community and attitudes towards drugs.

Bias was an iconic figure, and is often compared in ability to Michael Jordan, a year older than Bias.

Ungrady was a two-sport athlete at the University of Maryland, in soccer and track and field, from 1976-1980. He was captain of the track team in 1980, was an all-Atlantic Coast Conference and IC4A middle distance runner and played on the school’s soccer team during his freshman year. He also played varsity basketball in high school.

Ungrady has been a journalist for some 30 years. He has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, the Bleacher Report and the Huffington Post, among others, and has done broadcast work for NBC, ESPN, and CNN. He developed the Born Ready Project in 2012 and has begun speaking at schools throughout the country.