With the backdrop of all of the talk about Michael Jordan lately, and the offshoot conversation about Jordan vs. Len Bias, Hall of Fame former Maryland coach Lefty Driesell appeared on Glenn Clark Radio to talk about the two. Had Bias not died tragically before he could start his NBA career, could he have had a Jordan-like impact?

"Well, I coached for 40-some years, right, and he is the only player [who] when were scrimmaging, that I had to take out of the scrimmages. Cause I said, 'Leonard, these other guys have got to learn how to play.' Because he got every rebound, scored every point, blocked every shot. I mean, he was dynamic. I'm tellin' ya. In fact, that first game, when Michael Jordan beat us, Leonard was a freshman. He only played six or seven minutes. I didn't start him. See he didn't start for me as a freshman until about midway through the season. That's how much he improved.

"But I don't know. Michael Jordan's unbelievable ... Michael Jordan was a great great leader. He was something," said the 88-year-old Driesell. "As a pro player, I mean, he's the best. You watch that film [The Last Dance] they've been showing on Sunday nights. He was unbelievable. Well, [Bias] was great. I'll tell ya. See, Red Auerbach had seen him play for three years while he was at Maryland. And he said after he drafted him, I'm grooming Lenny to take Larry Bird's place. Cause Larry Bird was right toward the end of his career. 'Cause Leonard Bias was a great player'."

Driesell recalled how Bias, unlike Jordan, didn't arrive with the reputation of a big-time recruit.

"And you know what? He wasn't that highly recruited He only visited two schools, N.C. State and Oregon. No one else in the ACC recruited him, so I mean, he justy improved. Every game, he got better and better and better. We used to run our offense for him. We called it 'the special.' We'd just put him by himself on the right hand side of the court and give him the ball and let him take one-one-one whoever was guarding him. Or he'd come off a double-screen on the baseline on the other side of the court. Or he would just be coming over there and they would start switching. He would come back. He would just reverse and he would be wide-open underneath the basket. People had trouble guarding him. In fact, we'd run that against North Carolina a lot because Dean Smith, he always trapped people. They couldn't trap him."

Driesell, the only college coach to win 100 games at four different schools -- Davidson, Maryland, James Madison and Georgia State -- recalled how unstoppable Bias was bu his sophomore year.

"He could shoot the three if we [would've] had it. He could shoot outside, he could drive. If he got a rebound outside the lane sometime, he would just dunk them. He didn't have to lay them up. He just dunked over top of people. And we ran a alley oop for him. On an isolation side on the right, he would break to the middle and then go back door and we would just lob it up to him. Keith Gatlinb used to throw it," he said. "So I mean, he was a great, great player. And a great guy. He was a born again Christian, he went to Church every Sunday. His mother was a very strong Christian. And you know, he was a great person ... Hewas hard worker, great guy and everybody loved him. The guys on the team, the students."

The conversation drifted toward Driesell's move after Bias' death in 1986. Driesell, you'll recall, took the fall during the scandal ensuing from Bias' overdose, resigning under pressure.

"A lot of people think I got fired at Maryland. I didn't get fired. I stayed at Maryland as [assistant] athletic director for two years at the same salary and was able to still run my camps," he said. "They paid me my salary the two years I stayed at Maryland. The same salary. 'Cause I had a great lawyer, [former Baltimore Orioles owner] ]Edward Bennett Williams, and when I signed my 10-year contract, he put on there that if you ever want to get rid of Lefty or fired him or whatever, you've got to pay him his head coaching salary for the years left on his contract. Which, when I left, I had seven years. So for seven years that I was at JMU, I was getting paid by JMU and Maryland."

Clark then asked him about the mysterious absence of Adrian Branch, the school's fifth all-time leading scorer, from the rafters at Xfinity Center. The excitement in Driesell's gravelly , southern-tinged voice spiked.

"I mean give me a break! Let me give you some other guys who are not in the rafters at Maryland How 'bout Brad Davis? He got his jersey retired -- he played in the NBA 14 years - he got his jersey retired by the Dallas Mavericks. Why isn't his jersey up there? Why isn't Steve Sheppard's jersey up there? Steve Sheppard played on the last Olympic winning team played by college players. S0 for Dean Smith to pick him for the Olympic team means he was one of the top 10 players in America. His jersey's not up there. So give me a break. I've got about six guys whose jerseys should be up there," he said.

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Driesell, like everyone else, has been watching The Last Dance.

"You know what impressed about watching that thing is how big [Jordan's] hands are. I never realized his hands are that big ... He got great, big hands. That's what impressed me when I seen him. I said, Goodnight, look at his hands.' You know how he went up underneath the basket [and reversed]? He could so that because his hands were so big. Leonard had big hands. I don't think they were as big as Michael Jordan's. But Leonard Bias would've been a great pro."

In classic Driesell form, he drew some laughs when he was asked how he's doing.

"Yeah, pretty good," he said. "Look, When you get 88, you let me know if things are going well."

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Lefty Driesell on Jordan-Bias, players who should be in rafters - 247Sports