Baylor University basketball scandal
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The Baylor University Basketball Scandal was a 2003 incident where Baylor University was found to be guilty of violating many NCAA regulations.
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The Disappearance of Patrick Dennehy
Patrick Dennehy was a junior forward who transferred to Baylor University from the University of New Mexico following his sophomore season in 2001-2002. After redshirting the 2002-2003 season (to comply with the NCAA's Division I transfer policy), he was preparing to play for the Baylor Bears in the upcoming 2003-2004 season. Carlton Dotson, a junior power forward on the Baylor basketball team who played two seasons at Paris Junior College in Paris, Texas before transferring to Baylor University in the summer of 2002, was Dennehy's friend and teammate.
In the summer of 2003, Dennehy and Dotson indicated that they were concerned about their safety. They had purchased two pistols and a rifle and practiced firing them at a farm north of Waco. On June 14, Dennehy told friend Daniel Okopnyi that he was worried about threats made to Dotson by two fellow teammates. Dennehy also indicated that he and Dotson would be at a party the following day that neither appeared at.
Over the next few days, there were indications that something had gone wrong: Dennehy's mother and stepfather, Valorie and Brian Brabazon, were concerned that they had received no calls on Father's Day, Dennehy's roommate, Chris Turk, returned from an out-of-town trip to find that Dennehy's dogs have not been fed in days. On June 19, the Brabazons filed a report with the Waco Police Department that Dennehy was missing.
On June 25, Dennehy's Chevrolet Tahoe SUV was found in the parking lot of a shopping mall in Virginia Beach, Virginia with its license plates removed.
An affidavit filed on June 23, which was unsealed on June 30, seeking a search warrant for Dennehy's computer says that an informant in Delaware told police that Dotson, who by now was at home in Hurlock, Maryland, told a cousin that he had shot and killed Dennehy during an argument while firing guns in the Waco area. On July 21, Dotson was charged with the murder of Patrick Dennehy and taken into custody in Maryland.
The search for Dennehy continued for several weeks until July 25, when a badly-decomposed body was found in a gravel pit near Waco and was taken to Dallas for an autopsy. The following day, medical examiners identified the body as being Patrick Dennehy. On July 30, his death was ruled a homicide after a preliminary autopsy report showed that Dennehy died of gunshot wounds to the head. Dennehy was buried in San Jose, California on August 7.
Potential NCAA Violations
In early August, allegations arose concerning Dennehy's ability to remain with the Baylor basketball team during the 2002-2003 academic year without an athletic scholarship. Allegations of impropriety within the athletic department surfaced and Baylor University President Robert Sloan appointed an investigative panel to determine if there were any potential NCAA violations at the school.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram later discovered that during this time, Head Coach Dave Bliss told players to lie to investigators by indicating that Patrick Dennehy had paid for his US$7,000 tuition by dealing drugs. These conversations were taped on microcassette by assistant coach Abar Rouse from July 30 to August 1. On the tapes, Coach Bliss is heard instructing players to fabricate the story of Dennehy being a drug dealer to the University's investigative committee and also said that talking to the McLennan County Sheriff's Department would give him the opportunity to "practice" his story. However, despite the potential allegations of obstruction of justice and witness tampering, no charges were filed against Coach Bliss.
Drug Use
On August 1, allegations arose from Carlton Dotson's estranged wife, Melissa Kethley, and by Sonya Hart, the mother of another athlete, Paul Hart. They reported that abuse of marijuana and alcohol was rampant in the Baylor basketball program and was subsequently ignored by the athletic department and coaching staff.
Kethley revealed that five or six basketball players would meet at their apartment and smoke marijuana, sometimes before practice. She also witnessed Dotson fake a drug test using urine provided by a drug-free teammate.
Sonya Hart revealed that she had raised concerns about the drug use with associate athletic director Paul Bradshaw, but that no one ever got back in contact with her. President Sloan's investigation also agreed that the staff not only knew about the substance abuse but also failed to follow procedures for reporting drug test failures, with the purpose of allowing players to remain on the team.
Recruiting Violations
On August 5, two members of the 2002-2003 Baylor basketball team told The Dallas Morning News that members of the coaching staff were present during a pickup game involving star recruit Harvey Thomas during his official visit to Baylor, a clear violation of NCAA recruiting regulations. One of the two players said that head coach Dave Bliss and assistant coach Rodney Belcher were both present during the game.
The NCAA rules state that staff observation of a recruit's athletic activities, directly or indirectly, during their official visit to their university is illegal.
Coach Dave Bliss
It was also revealed that Baylor basketball coach, Dave Bliss, had apparently broken several NCAA regulations during his tenure at Baylor and in a previous basketball coaching position at Southern Methodist University in 1988.
On August 2, an NCAA memo obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram detailed major rules violations, including booster payments of US$2,000 to $5,000 to center Jon Koncak during his junior and senior years. Both Bliss and SMU received no NCAA penalties for the infractions because the university received the "death penalty" for violations in their football program in February 1987 and the decision was made not to further punish the SMU athletic department. Shortly after the investigation, Bliss left SMU to take a position at the University of New Mexico in 1988, before joining the Baylor program in 1999.
For his part, Bliss denied all allegations saying, "We have followed the rules, however difficult they may be, for 30 years."
However, under heavy pressure from all sides, Coach Bliss along with University athletic directory Tom Stanton, who accepted responsibility despite having no direct knowledge of the infractions, resigned on August 8.
Preliminary Penalties
On the same day Coach Bliss resigned, the Baylor University investigative committee announced their preliminary results and determined potential sanctions on the school. Initial sanctions imposed by the school included probation of the school's basketball program for two years, no postseason play for the 2003-2004 season, including the Big XII tournament and an immediate release was tendered to every athlete in the men's basketball program. Four players took the school up on this offer: Lawrence Roberts, John Lucas III, Kenny Taylor and Tyrone Nelson transferred to other schools. Two of the four became immediate stars at programs that would win regular-season conference titles in 2004. Roberts became the main inside force at Mississippi State, leading the Bulldogs in scoring and rebounding and being selected as a first-team All-American. Lucas stayed in the conference at Oklahoma State, becoming the Cowboys' second-leading scorer and assists leader while helping the Cowboys to reach the Final Four.
Further Investigation
The University continued to investigate the basketball program over the next seven months and released their final report on February 26, 2004. The full list of major program violations included:
- Former Coach Dave Bliss paying for tuition for two players and attempting to conceal it.
- Coaching staff providing meals, transportation, lodging and clothing to athletes.
- Coaching staff paying for tuition and fees for a recruit at another school.
- Bliss's encouragement of school boosters to donate to a foundation tied to a basketball team that included prospective Baylor recruits.
- Failure to report positive drug test results by athletes.
- Failure by the entire coaching staff to "exercise institutional control over the basketball program."
Other improprieties of a lesser nature were also discovered.
As a result, the school imposed further penalties on their basketball program. The program's probation was extended for an additional year, scholarships were reduced for the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons, expense-paid recruiting visits were also reduced for the next two seasons and other recruiting abilities were also inhibited, one exhibition game was eliminated for the 2004-05 season and Baylor announced they would recertify that all athletics policies would conform to NCAA rules.
Baylor forwarded their findings to the NCAA, who will spend the next few months determining if any additional penalties will be required.
References
- Baylor University's Compilation of Related Press Releases (http://pr.baylor.edu/story.php?id=004623)
- The Dallas Morning News staff. "School reveals penalties." Quick (2004): 8-9.
- BaylorBears.com: Patrick Dennehy's Profile (http://baylorbears.ocsn.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/dennehy_patrick00.html).
- ESPN.com: Coaches may have watched pickup game illegally (http://espn.go.com/ncb/news/2003/0802/1588892.html), August 2.
- ESPN.com: Key dates in Dennehy disappearance (http://espn.go.com/ncb/news/2003/0721/1583886.html), July 28.
- ESPN.com: NCAA memo details booster payments, other infractions (http://espn.go.com/ncb/news/2003/0802/1588938.html), August 2.
- Waco Tribune-Herald: Baylor University President Robert B. Sloan Jr.'s statement on NCAA violations (http://www.wacotrib.com/news/newsfd/auto/feed/news/2003/08/08/1060389023.15255.2454.5083.html), August 8.
Categories: Scandals | 2003 | Basketball