Naughty Nine and Baylor

[RGV Pony]

Sooner or later, we should get around to talking about our upcoming bowl game.

Anyway, maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like when the Bliss/Dotson/Baylor bball murder thing was going on, one of the stories mentioned a booster down there who had been one of the banned boosters at SMU. Seems he had migrated to Baylor. Anyone remember something to that effect?

[Sammy 11]

I had not heard that.

My understanding of the Dave Bliss infractions:

Paying tuition for anywhere from 2-6 players out of pocket totaling just over 40k
Soliciting 81k from boosters
and of course the horrible coverup of above payments and slander of the victim to save his skin.

Could possibly be part of the 81k but I would have my doubts unless the booster had dual allegiances.

[Pony_Fan]

One school of many for DP possibilities. Amazing they are Top 20 in bball.

[NickSMU17]

Smells dirty in Waco...

[Sammy 11]

One school of many for DP possibilities. Amazing they are Top 20 in bball.

The reason we didn't get the DP was simple, we did everything possible to cooperate where SMU football denied repeatedly. We allowed players out of their scholarships, imposed sanctions on the amount of scholarships, scheduling, tv, etc. This along with similar behavior in prior incidents is likely what spared us.


That said, we still got stung with very large penalties and if not for an amazing coaching job by Scott Drew it would have killed the program.

[NickSMU17]

Still smells....

[RGV Pony]

and if not for an amazing coaching job by Scott Drew it would have killed the program.

coaching, and all that implies I suppose

[EastStang]

Actually Baylor got as close as anyone ever got to the DP. No post-season, no Conference home games.

[RGV Pony]

found the answer:

The NCAA investigation memo from Bliss' time at SMU leaked during 2003, at the peak of the Baylor basketball scandal. The memo reported that Koncak had illegally received the money during his junior and senior years from boosters as well as Bliss. Among those boosters were Sherwood Blount and William F. Stevens, two of the nine boosters who were eventually banned from any contact with SMU because of their illegal contributions to an SMU football team slush fund, which was uncovered during an NCAA investigation that led to the team receiving the "death penalty".

Stevens eventually moved to Crawford, Texas, about 15 minutes from the Baylor campus. Stevens was a prominent contributor to the Baylor basketball program under Bliss, and hosted a postseason team party following Bliss final season (2002-2003). The existence of the party, an NCAA violation, as well as Stevens' involvement with the Baylor program as a booster were uncovered during the summer of 2003.

[CA Mustang]

Paying tuition for anywhere from 2-6 players out of pocket totaling just over 40k

Why pay the player's tuition? Weren't they on scholarship?

[Sammy 11]

Good find RGV on the SMU booster & BU.

Paying tuition for anywhere from 2-6 players out of pocket totaling just over 40k

Why pay the player's tuition? Weren't they on scholarship?

I think Dennehy was a walk on which would explain it.

Bliss was going into his 28th season as an NCAA Division I head coach, his fourth at the world's largest Baptist university, when 11th-hour circumstances left him two scholarships short. He paid tuitions for players Patrick Dennehy and Corey Herring in violation of NCAA rules.

In June 2003, Dennehy was shot to death by teammate Carlton Dotson near Waco. When Dennehy initially went missing for about six weeks, public questions arose regarding his tuition payments. Bliss responded by telling his staff to lie and spread an existing rumor: Dennehy paid for his schooling by selling drugs. Volunteer assistant coach Abar Rouse exposed the cover-up plan through secretly recorded audio tapes.

[Longtime]

Bliss was over the scholarship limit when he brought Dennehy in from New Mexico, so that's why he had to pay for his tuition and claim he was a walk-on.

There are more ties between Baylor and SMU than just Stevens. Remember, back in the 1980s when Dr Pepper was across 75 from SMU, Dr Pepper was a big sponsor. A friend of mine who worked at Dr Pepper said at least one exec was involved in giving SMU football players summer "jobs" - wink, wink. That Dr Pepper exec is now a Baylor booster.

Doesn't mean he's doing anything dirty now, of course. And setting up no-show jobs back then was probably like buying season tickets. It's just something you did to support the program.

[Dwan]

a TON easier to rebuild a basketball program

[Treadway21]

Not ours.