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Posted on Thu, Jan. 08, 2004



Player says Bliss was to pay tuition

By Danny Robbins;Jeff Caplan
Star-Telegram Staff Writers

A former Baylor basketball player claims in a lawsuit that he transferred to the school three years ago because then-coach Dave Bliss offered to pay his way through law school.

Chad Elsey, who transferred to Baylor from SMU, contends in the suit that Bliss told him:

"Chad, if you commit to me that you will come to Baylor, I will not only pay for an extra semester, but will pay for law school and any other degree that you are interested in, so long as you work diligently toward a degree."

If the allegation proves to be true, the promise could be a violation of NCAA recruiting rules and would raise yet another question about Bliss' conduct, which has been under scrutiny by a university committee since he tried to cover up illicit payments to slain player Patrick Dennehy during the summer.

In the lawsuit, filed against Bliss and Baylor on Monday in State District Court in McLennan County, Elsey contends Bliss failed to live up to the offer, thereby breaching an oral contract. As a result, the suit states, Elsey suffered damages exceeding $100,000.

Elsey's suit also asserts that Bliss said he had connections at the Baylor law school and that gaining admittance for one of his players would be "no problem."

Efforts to contact Elsey, currently enrolled in law school at the University of Tulsa, were unsuccessful Wednesday. He filed the suit on his own, instead of being represented by a lawyer.

Bill Underwood, a Baylor law professor serving on the university's investigative committee, said the panel is aware of Elsey's claim.

"We're looking into every aspect of it," Underwood said.

Bliss resigned in August after the committee discovered that Dennehy and another player received improper tuition payments. Committee members have said they believe Bliss was the source of the funds.

A week after Bliss' resignation, an assistant coach, Abar Rouse, provided the committee and the NCAA with tapes of secretly recorded conversations showing that Bliss tried to organize a scheme in which players would make investigators believe Dennehy paid for his tuition by selling drugs.

Elsey, a graduate of Marcus High School in Flower Mound, played for Baylor during the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons, averaging 8.5 points and 2.8 rebounds for his career. He played for SMU in 1997-98 and 1998-99.

In his lawsuit, Elsey states that he and members of his family were touring the Baylor campus in Bliss' sport utility vehicle when the coach made the promise regarding law school. According to the suit, Elsey asked Bliss about the "NCAA implications" of such a promise. The suit states that Bliss said there were "ways" to get around NCAA rules.

Elsey claims in the suit that he subsequently applied to Baylor's law school and sought a recommendation from Bliss. He said Bliss agreed to provide the letter but was "tardy" in delivering it.

The former player's mother, Lori Elsey, declined comment on the matter Wednesday and said her husband, Chuck, is out of the country.

Noley Bice, Baylor's general counsel, said he brought the matter to the attention of the university's investigative committee after receiving a letter from Chuck Elsey on Dec. 3. Bice said the elder Elsey stated that Baylor should pay for his son's legal education because Bliss had promised he would do so.

Bice said Wednesday he hadn't seen the lawsuit but believes, based on what he has learned since receiving Chuck Elsey's letter, that the suit lacks merit.

"That's my conclusion based on all the information we've gathered since the first written demand," he said.

Bice also questioned the timing of the suit, noting that the demand for payment wasn't made until the impropriety stemming from the Dennehy case had come to light.

"If you put the smell test to it, you see that two years after [Chad Elsey] started paying [law school] tuition and after all that has happened at Baylor, he suddenly says, 'Oh, this just hit me. I was supposed to get free law school,' " he said.

Elsey's action is the second basketball-related lawsuit against the university since Dennehy's death. The slain player's father, Patrick Dennehy Sr., has filed suit asserting that his son was killed after he decided to expose irregularities in the basketball program.

Dennehy's friend and teammate, Carlton Dotson, has been charged with the slaying and is in jail in Waco awaiting trial.

Staff Writer Pete Alfano Contributed to This Report.


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Danny Robbins, (817) 390-7258 [email protected]
Jeff Caplan, (817) 390-7760 [email protected]





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© 2004 Star Telegram and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
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ridiculous. NCAA rules are obviously not law, but a lawsuit asserting that a guy failed to break stated NCAA rules is absurd. Too bad Mr. Elsey. There are no damages because its not like Elsey relied on Bliss' words to his detriment; if he committed to another school was he going to get his law school paid for there? No, not unless that school would also break explicit rules that are common knowledge. As for Bliss not doing the recommendation, are we suing people now for not following through on personal favors in an acceptable manner? Maybe Chad oughta forget the law classes at Tulsa and take some ethics courses.

Great find. Having read the article, I don't know whose behavior was worse - Bliss for allegedly engaging in more shady dealings or Elsey for bringing this frivilous lawsuit. It would have been like former players on our unfortunate payroll suing for breach of contract after the gravy train ended. I knew I didn't like that guy when he transfered, now I have more of a reason . . .

Originally posted by Hoop Fan:
ridiculous. NCAA rules are obviously not law, but a lawsuit asserting that a guy failed to break stated NCAA rules is absurd. Too bad Mr. Elsey. There are no damages because its not like Elsey relied on Bliss' words to his detriment; if he committed to another school was he going to get his law school paid for there? No, not unless that school would also break explicit rules that are common knowledge. As for Bliss not doing the recommendation, are we suing people now for not following through on personal favors in an acceptable manner? Maybe Chad oughta forget the law classes at Tulsa and take some ethics courses.

Actually his reasoning would be that Bliss' promise induced him to come to the school. He could have gone elsewhere or not transferred at all.

ok, so where are the damages involved in being 'induced' to get a basketball scholarship at Baylor? I think the situation was that he decided to transfer anyway but even so trading a college education at SMU for one at Baylor hardly amounts to damages.

Originally posted by Hoop Fan:
ok, so where are the damages involved in being 'induced' to get a basketball scholarship at Baylor? I think the situation was that he decided to transfer anyway but even so trading a college education at SMU for one at Baylor hardly amounts to damages.

According to the article, Elsey's apparent argument is that in exchange for his agreement to transfer to baylor and "work diligently towards his degree", Bliss agreed (a) to help get him into law school and (b) to pay for it once he got there. Elsey says he performed his obligations under their agreement, thereby obligating Bliss to try to "use his connections" to him into law school and to pay for it once he got there.

If Elsey proves that he is correct, his damages are the cost of the law school tuition, which Bliss agreed to pay for.

In any case, I say "good luck" on this one.

I understand what Elsey is claiming, and at the time he transferred I remember him specifically saying that Baylor had promised to pay for a year of law school, because he would have to sit out when transferring and after finishing his degree he would be playing while in grad school. However, I also know Chuck Elsey, and I know that there is no angle he wont play if he sees a chance to get something out of it. Right now, I have to agree with Noley Bice that this one doesnt pass the smell test. It has all the indications of someone trying to stick their nose in a trough when they see an opening. I think most people will see this as the shallow attempt at extortion that it is, and thats sad both for Baylor and for the Elsey family.

Attn: Legal mumbo jumbo below

You can't sue to enforce a contract that, while it may not be illegal per se, is against public policy, as an agreement to violate NCAA rules would likely be.

You can't agree to buy or sell cocaine and then sue to enforce the agreement when the other party doesn't deliver the cash or the drugs. That's an extreme example, but my guess is that no Texas court would enforce the oral agreement of the nature Elsey claims to have made, especially given the admission that he was aware of the impropriety of the consideration he was offered.

Plus, I would also argue that the "working diligently toward a degree" was not actual consideration on Elsey's part, which is required for a valid contract. Also, for an oral contract to be proven, the consideration has to be uniquely referable to the agreement. Essentially, he would have to argue that he would not have not performed his part of the bargain -- working diligently toward a degree at Baylor -- absent the agreement by Bliss. Hard to prove I would think.

Plus there is the question of agency. Is Bliss authorized by the the university to make agreements with respect to university funds that clearly violate NCAA rules? Again, given Elsey's knowledge of the impropriety of the arrangement, Bliss' apparent authority to act on behalf of Baylor is doubtful.

Just my 2 cents on some of the legal issues. As for the moral issue, I hate it when players who knew (or certainly should have known) they were accepting improper benefits come back and claim to be victims. Shame on Elsey. I wouldn't mind being on the committee that decides moral and ethical fitness for to pass the bar.

The trasnfer itself would be sufficient consideration. As for the agency issue, the article seemed to indicated that Bliss himself would pay for it.

It's tough to believe that Bliss would have made such a promise to a prospect as marginal as Elsey. The whole argument looks like Elsey took the elements of a contract and then tried to come up with the facts to satisfy them.

This surely places Elsey in a poor light from a ethical standpoint... and you have to wonder about his sense of logic in bringing this action if he's serious about becoming an attorney.

Yeah, but he didn't just sue Bliss. He sued Baylor, meaning Elsey is alleging that Bliss' promise was made on behalf of Baylor and bound Baylor. As a Baylor employee, Bliss could not agree to an act that would be a breach of his own fiduciary duty to his employer in exchange for the transfer. Apparently Elsey didn't do so well in his contracts class, because an agent cannot have apparent authority to act if the contracting party is aware that the action would cause the agent to breach his fiduciary duty. Baylor would have had to actually authorize Bliss to enter the contract under those terms. Maybe that's what he's alleging.

Elsey is a complete moron. He really screwed the SMU team when he left for Baylor. He transfers to Baylor and sits the bench. What an idiot! The great news is that that piece of trash does not have an SMU degree on his wall.

He takes an illegal bribe (against NCAA rules) and now wants compensation because it was a fib....

"Hey, come here and you'll start!"

Considering how ridiculous this case is, does anyone else NOT feel surprised that he's filing it without the advice of a lawyer?

And he wants the cash for LAW SCHOOL -- where presumably he'd be trained to dish out legal advice .... something of which he is in desperate need.

And on top of all that, it sounds like his parents knew about it. Where were they when he concocted the idea of wasting paper in the courts with this?

It will be interesting to see how emphatic the judge is when he rips Elsey (and his lawyer dad) for wasting the courts' time with this moronic suit.

it actually may be a closer issue that you think at least against Bliss. I would agree that the Court would leave the litigants where they found them and award Elsey no relief if Bliss and Baylor had offered to break the law which is criminal and against public policy. However, that theory (usually applied to gambling losses, prostitution and other criminal acts)may not apply to a promise by a person to pay for the education of another-not inherently against public policy. There is no public policy favoring the NCAA. Baylor would likely be in a better position to argue that Bliss as an agent was not authorized to make offers which would constitute a breach of contract between Baylor and Bliss. No actual authority-so long as Baylor did not know and implicitly approve of Bliss' actions.