Article about Dave Bliss & SMU Basketball

[Cheesesteak]

Posted on Sat, Aug. 02, 2003

Bliss left SMU after inquiry, memo shows
By Danny Robbins
Star-Telegram Staff Writer


STAR-TELEGRAM ARCHIVES/TOM PENNINGTON
Baylor University head basketball coach Dave Bliss answers questions last month about the disappearance of player Patrick Dennehy.

Baylor University basketball coach Dave Bliss, who has responded to allegations of National Collegiate Athletic Association rules violations by citing his history of integrity, left his job as coach at Southern Methodist University in 1988 shortly after an internal investigation uncovered evidence of infractions similar to those that resulted in the "death penalty" for SMU's football program, an NCAA memo prepared at the time reveals.

The memo, obtained by the Star-Telegram, outlines several matters that would typically be considered major rules violations, including booster payments to star center Jon Koncak. Neither Bliss nor the SMU program was penalized by the NCAA.

Robert L. Stroup III, the NCAA enforcement representative who wrote the memo, told the Star-Telegram that he stopped investigating the SMU basketball program at the direction of his supervisor at the time. He said his supervisor told him that it was because the university had already paid such a heavy price for its transgressions in football.

"They [SMU administrators] were self-reporting [information] and making changes in their athletic department, telling us this stuff wouldn't happen again," said Stroup, who left the NCAA in 1993 to practice law in Fargo, N.D.

"It was at a point where there could have been another major [infractions] case, but, back then, cases would take two, three years to complete. It was just kind of decided, 'We gave them the worst [penalty]. What more can we do?' "

Bliss' commitment to following NCAA rules has come under scrutiny in recent weeks after the shooting death of Baylor player Patrick Dennehy.

University President Robert Sloan has appointed a panel to examine potential NCAA violations, including the possibility that improper financial assistance allowed Dennehy to attend Baylor during the 2002-2003 academic year without an athletic scholarship.

At a news conference Monday, Bliss said he has always complied with NCAA rules. "I know that there have been allegations that we haven't followed the rules. We have followed the rules, however difficult they may be, for 30 years," Bliss said.

In an open letter to Baylor fans that was posted on the university's Web site Thursday, he again referred to his reputation, saying he has directed "first-class" programs throughout his career.

And in fact, none of the schools where Bliss has coached have been cited for NCAA infractions during his time there.

Bliss declined to be interviewed for this report. Requests were made through Scott Stricklin, Baylor's athletic department spokesman.

Sloan also declined to be interviewed.

The NCAA memo obtained by the Star-Telegram summarizes a report prepared by a Dallas private investigating firm, Southwest Security and Investigations, hired by SMU to review all facets of its athletic program after the football program received the "death penalty" in February 1987.

The "death penalty" was imposed after NCAA officials learned that booster money had been funneled to SMU football players while the program was on probation for similar wrongdoing. Because of the sanctions, the university did not field a football team in the 1987 and 1988 seasons.

Bliss spent eight seasons at SMU, leading the Mustangs to three NCAA Tournament appearances. He left for the head coaching job at the University of New Mexico in May 1988, just months after the private investigators' report was completed. He was at New Mexico for 11 years before moving to Baylor in 1999.

According to the NCAA memo, a major portion of the private investigators' report on Bliss' program at SMU involved statements from Koncak, a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic team and a second-team all-America pick as a senior in 1984-85.

Koncak was quoted as telling the investigators he received at least $2,000 to $5,000 from two boosters during his junior and senior years. The boosters he cited were among the nine whose association with the university's athletic program was ended because of their role in the football scandal.

Koncak was also quoted as saying that he knew of other players who received money in a similar fashion and that he believed "very strongly" that Bliss was aware of the payments.

Another former SMU player, John Addison, was quoted as telling the investigators that he received $500 directly from Bliss and that he left SMU before completing his eligibility because Bliss had begun to recruit "thugs."

The memo also cites Bliss' immediate predecessor at SMU, Sonny Allen, who was quoted as telling the investigators that he was forced out because he resisted requests to win "at all costs."

The memo states that S. Leon Bennett, SMU's vice president for legal affairs, allowed the NCAA to view the investigators' report but not to obtain a copy because he feared that the document would then become subject to the Texas Public Information Act.

Stroup said he used the report as a starting point for examining potential violations in men's basketball, golf, and track and field. He said he spent six to 10 months on the case and believed there was "merit" to much of what had been reported.

He said he prepared a summary of his findings and then was informed by his supervisor, Chuck Smrt, that the investigation would not continue.

"I was asked to summarize all the information I had," Stroup said. "I turned it over to Smrt. I don't know who Smrt talked to after that. But when he came back to me, he basically said, 'We're not going to do any more on this. Enough has been done to them.' "

Stroup said be believes that the conversation took place sometime in 1988 after Bliss had moved to New Mexico.

Smrt, currently president of a Kansas-based company that specializes in helping schools deal with NCAA-related matters, declined to comment, saying he does not discuss the private aspects of his work at the NCAA.

David Berst, who headed the NCAA enforcement staff when the "death penalty" was imposed on SMU and is now the NCAA's chief of staff for Division I, did not respond to phone messages left at his office Thursday and Friday.

Lonnie Kliever, an SMU professor of religious studies who served as the school's faculty athletic representative during the investigation that led to the "death penalty," said the idea to scrutinize basketball and other sports originated with A. Kenneth Pye, the university president who assumed leadership during the football crisis, who has since died.

According to Kliever, Pye's initial concern was the unusual improvement in a standardized test score posted by Larry Johnson, then one of the top basketball recruits in the nation and an SMU signee. Questions about the test score led Johnson to enroll at Odessa College instead of SMU, the first step in a career that ultimately took him to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and the National Basketball Association.

Kliever said he has no direct knowledge of how the NCAA viewed SMU's other sports programs, but based on conversations with NCAA officials at the time, he said, he believes there was sentiment to leave the other programs alone.

"What you had with the 'death penalty' was the death of the entire program," he said. "And so I do think the NCAA was reluctant to hammer us again."

Gerald May, president of the University of New Mexico from 1986 to 1990, said this week that neither he or his subordinates were aware of the SMU report or the NCAA's interest in the SMU basketball program when Bliss was under consideration at UNM.

"We never heard anything like that," he said. "Absolutely not. We wouldn't have considered him if that were the case.\

[KnuckleStang]

This article makes me sick to my stomach. I'm also flat-out embarrassed for my school. The old "any pub is good pub" adage does not apply here, even if they are referring to stuff that happened 15-20 years ago. Am I the only person who assumed Bliss ran a basically clean program? Not that it really matters at this point, but I sure hope most of that is not true. But I guess, when I think about it, I shouln't be all that surprised.

[50's PONY]

Now you know the real story!

[Charleston Pony]

Even if Bliss had no personal knowledge (I can't imagine he could have been oblivious), it was virtually impossible to run a "clean" program at SMU in that time frame. The mandate from on high was to win at all costs (meaning we were going to compete with UT and A$M and beat them at their own game).

As an old aggie friend of mine used to tell me: "you guys had to go down. you were paying your 2nd teamers too much"

It was understood that cheating was widespread in the SWC (and elsewhere) in those days. Not sure how much cleaner things really are today in the world of Top 25 programs.

And on the L.J. subject, does anyone find it interesting that Larry was eventually admitted to UNLV where he also stayed eligible long enough to help them to a national championship?

[PonyExpress]

Posted on another thread by OldPony:

"If the BU recruiting issues coming out with this escalate to a scandal, the SMU powers are almost sure to ask him back."

I don't know if that was the case when you posted, but in light of this story, there's absolutely no way he'd even get an interview. Talk about asking to go back under the NCAA microscope.

I'd rather focus on supporting Coach Dement and his team. After all, it's still his team. Dave Bliss should not ever be back at SMU.

[Lotus]

I agree with KnuckleStang - this makes me sick.
Not that SMU has had great hoops success since his departure, but personally I'm glad he's not representing our school any more.

[The Q]

Coach Dement hasn't gotten us where we want - yet - but at least he runs a clean, classy program, and he should be commended for that. And the wins and tournament appearances will come - I really believe that.

[KnuckleStang]

It's surprising, in that I never would have thought these SMU "boosters," in general, cared enough about college basketball to illegally invest in it. Football, that made a little more sense. But basketball? Whew. This is a story one might expect to come from the Carolinas or someplace, not Dallas.

Either way, to repeat, I'm ashamed. It's the same B.S., just a different sport, and yet another reason to make fun of our University. I'd like to see them can Bliss, and quickly, so I don't have to look at his buckteeth face anymore.

[This message has been edited by KnuckleStang (edited 08-03-2003).]

[No Cal Pony]

KnuckleStang, not sure when you were at SMU, but I saw what was going on at the time. It was getting ugly, and made me worry. I hoped we get get over the situations and move on. Only problem was a problem. Along came D.S. and his crybaby story to a bunch of ut alums. The rest is history. Yes, this all is disappointing, but at the time (and even now) a lot worse was going on. ut, a$m, and many, MANY other schools were behaving FAR worse. We became easy targets for the ncaa to look good, and protect their $$ schools.

The real shame is what a scam the ncaa has really become.

Go Ponies!

[Hoss]

I heard the whispers when I was in school, too (when Bliss was coach). How much more evidence is needed to convince schools this guy should not be running a program? Anywhere?

[KnuckleStang]

I was there '86-'90. I guess I'm a naive buzzard. All I'm saying is, I thought we deserved the DP before, but I KNOW we deserved it now.

And much manure has been shoveled on Ken Pyes dead body. For all the heat Pye has taken, let's put ourselves in his position for just a second: SMU has just received the DP in football. Dave Bliss comes to his office, and says, "Hey Ken, you been on a diet? You look great. Anyway, we got a guy who finally qualified, remember that Larry Johnson from Carter, who got a 550 on his last SAT? Well, he scored 1050 this time! Fire up the jet, we're goin' to the Final Four!" Pye says, "Uh...you're kidding, right? Dave, please tell me you're not serious." Bliss says, "No, you wouldn't believe it! He ordered a brain from the Sears catalog!! It's an S.M.U. Christmas MIRACLE!!!" and so on...

I know that Pye's and his administration's subsequent admissions policies made it nearly impossible for us to compete, for years to come, and I wish he hadn't. It wasn't the right way to do it, in restrospect. But given a scenario like this, after we'd been given the NCAA's first mortifying death penalty in one sport, I completely understand why he did what he did. And I can't say I wouldn't have done something similar.

[Cheesesteak]

I read this article several times since Saturday morning and I keep getting more and more disgusted.

While attending SMU I was aware of "misdeeds" within the football program. I now realize what an enormous mess SMU got itself into across the athletic department. The statement "NCAA enforcement representative stopped investigating the SMU basketball program at the direction of his supervisor at the time" makes me sick. SMU cheapened its institutional credibility beyond belief. Where there any institutional controls on the Hilltop? Was it a combination of violations *across* the SMU athletic department that that drove the NCAA to give SMU football (I am aware of the history of violations and the characters involved) the death sentence. Currently, I am more satisfied with SMU's direction (endowment growth, campus construction, improved academics, ethical coaches, etc.) than I have ever been, but so much good on the academic side of the ledger can be severely tainted by misdeeds on the athletic side.

Looking at how SMU was cheapened...we probably deserved every institutional control Ken Pye imposed including the ones that led to more than a decade of deterioration in SMU's revenue sports.

[ClassOf81]

Not to split hairs here, but didn't Larry Johnson go to Skyline?

Either way, KnuckleStang nailed my sentiment there. Pye has taken a lot of heat, and in some cases deservedly so, but he was in a tight spot.

[Troup32]

I didn't start following the Ponies until Keylon Kincade got there. But that doesn't sound good. SMU is better off without a guy like that.

[KnuckleStang]

Splitting hairs is permitted, '81, I stand corrected. Skyline it was.