Zachary Lederer, a former student manager with the Terps men’s basketball team, picks up balls before a 2012 game against North Carolina.
Former Terrapins men’s basketball manager Zach Lederer, the inspiration behind the “Zaching” pose that gained national attention in 2012, died Tuesday after an extended battle with brain cancer.
Lederer, 20, served as manager during the 2011-12 season. A picture of him flexing his biceps, or “Zaching”, in a hospital bed after surgery went viral that spring.
“My heart goes out to the Lederer family,” Terps coach Mark Turgeon said in a statement. “Zach was an outstanding young man who was an inspiration to us all. He had a great passion for life and was a true fighter. Zach not only had a powerful impact on our program, but he touched the lives of so many people in our community. He is and always will be a part of our Maryland basketball family and will be greatly missed.”
There will be a candlelight vigil for Lederer outside of Comcast Center at 11 p.m. Tuesday.
“He was one of the most positive, upbeat kids I’ve ever met,” Terps forward John Auslander said in late January. “Every day, he’d come in and greet me with a big smile.”
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