Bob Wade ( basketball ) Robert Pernell Wade ( born December 9 , 1944 ) is a former men ' s college basketball head coach for the University of Maryland ( 1986 – 1989 ) , as well as an American football defensive back for the National Football League . Football career . Wade played college football at Morgan State University . After his collegiate career , he played in the National Football League for the Pittsburgh Steelers ( 1968 ) , the Washington Redskins ( 1969 ) , and the Denver Broncos ( 1970 ) . Basketball coaching career . Prior to his coaching stint at Maryland , Wade coached at Baltimore ' s Dunbar High School for ten years , where he compiled a 341 - 25 record and was often ranked in the nation ' s top 10 . In his best two seasons at the inner - city high school , 1981 – 1983 , Wade put together teams that produced a 60 - 0 record , the second of which was ranked first in the nation by USAToday . His 1981 - 82 team produced four future NBA players - three of them first - round draft picks - including Boston Celtics captain Reggie Lewis , who was the high school ' s team ' s sixth man , and 5 ' - 3 " Tyrone " Muggsy " Bogues , who had a 14 - year NBA career despite being the shortest player in league history . Wade was originally hired to replace Lefty Driesell , Maryland ' s basketball coach of 17 years . Driesell resigned over concerns about the death of All - America n forward Len Bias and subsequent revelations about his players ' academic performances ; the fact that Wade and Driesell didn ' t like each other , and Wade had consistently said he hadn ' t wanted Dunbar prospects to play for Driesell at Maryland , was not overlooked by commentators . In high school , Wade had been a strong disciplinarian , and he was appealing to University of Maryland administrators who were attempting to clean up the basketball program . He was also hired in order to increase diversity , as he became the first African American coach of a major sport in the Atlantic Coast Conference , despite the fact that he had no prior experience in coaching a team at the collegiate level . Largely due to the loss of several players suspended after the Len Bias incident , Wade ' s first season was one of the worst in school history . The Terps suffered what is still their only winless record in ACC play , as part of an overall 9 - 17 record . Wade quickly rebuilt the team and got the Terps back into the NCAA tournament a year later . Due to the transfer of star players Brian Williams and Steve Hood , the team significantly regressed in 1988 - 89 , losing 20 games , the most in school history . Wade was forced to resign on May 12 , 1989 after only three years as head coach , compiling a 36 - 50 record . His resignation came amid allegations that he broke NCAA rules in dealing with players and recruits . While criticized for his coaching abilities , his ability to recruit was not in question . In only 2 years of recruiting , ( he was hired too late for any serious recruiting his first year ) Wade landed 3 NBA first round draft picks in Williams ( who later changed his name to Bison Dele ) , Jerrod Mustaf , and Walt Williams . An investigation found that , among other things , Wade had provided a loan to one of his recruits and provided free clothes to his players . More seriously , Wade lied to the NCAA on several occasions , and even went as far as to hold a meeting with his staff to coordinate plans to lie to the NCAA . In one of the toughest penalties handed out by the NCAA for such transgressions , the Terps were placed on three years ' probation , banned from postseason play in 1991 and 1992 and kicked off live television for the 1990 - 91 season . Wade himself was hit with a five - year show - cause order , which effectively blackballed him from the collegiate ranks until 1995 . Noting the lack of institutional control and perceiving his departure as mistreatment of an African American coach , blue chip high school players from Baltimore City would largely avoid Maryland until Keith Booth chose to attend Maryland in 1993 .