REACTION MIXED TO BAYLOR COACH'S RESIGNATION

WACO - Friends, players and colleagues were surprised and saddened by the
resignation of Baylor basketball coach Dave Bliss on Friday, while a member
of a committee investigating possible rules violations by the team said the
work is far from done.

Bliss resigned after the committee found that he was involved in two
players receiving improper financial aid and that staff members did not
properly report failed drug tests.

The investigation began after junior forward Patrick Dennehy was reported
missing in mid-June. He was later found dead at a rock quarry near campus
and former teammate Carlton Dotson was charged with his murder.

Family and friends of both players have said Baylor coaches helped the men
financially and knew about marijuana use by some players.

"I believe this has been a strong effort to begin getting to the bottom of
these accusations in a rapid fashion," said Kirk Watson, a lawyer and
former Austin mayor who is on the school's internal investigative
committee. "While significant progress has been made in a very short time,
this investigation is not over."

Ellis Kidd, a junior who played at Oklahoma State before transferring to
Baylor, told Saturday's editions of The Dallas Morning News that he would
stay on the team.

"I'm in the Big 12," Kidd said. "I'm not going anywhere. ... I talked to
(Bliss) the other day and he seemed like everything was normal. That's how
coaches are, though. They tell you some things and mean another. It's all a
big game to me."

Others, including junior Kenny Taylor, told the newspaper they were too
stunned to know what they'd do next.

"I'm pretty much in shock," he said from his Sugar Land home. "There's a
lot going on and everything happened at one time. I have to sit down with
my mother and my family and weigh all my options."

Harvey Thomas, a junior who transferred from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M
junior college, said he had been looking forward to playing with Bliss.

"It's a blow to me," he said. "I liked his style, his demeanor, everything.
We should've been the first to know. I'm hurt. Things never go the way
they're supposed to. It's tough."

Brian O'Neill, an assistant coach for Bliss at New Mexico and Baylor, said
Bliss' announcement comes as somewhat of a surprise.

"Once you start an internal investigation in your school or any school,
some dirt is going to come up in some cases," said O'Neill, who left Baylor
in April to move back to New Mexico. "And with all the negative publicity
swirling around Pat (Dennehy) ... there was going to be some other
disheartening things that would come out."

O'Neill said Bliss' decision to step down was a good one, calling his
former boss a "standup guy" who would have had a difficult time coaching in
a competitive conference this season with a "dark cloud" of controversy
following him.

"It was going to be hard for him to continue coach at that school with all
this negative press and negative reports surrounding the program," he said.

O'Neill added: "Coach bliss is not the kind of guy who would leave unless
he felt he need to step down."

But O'Neill, now an assistant coach for the New Mexico women's basketball
team, emphasized that Baylor is not alone when it comes to NCAA rules
violations.

"I think a lot of NCAA men's basketball programs operate in a gray area,"
he said. " ... And I think once the NCAA was allowed to investigate the
program, a lot of those things in the gray area were exposed and,
therefore, he may have felt responsible for some of those things that
transpired."

O'Neill worked for Bliss at New Mexico from 1998 to 1999 and then followed
Bliss to Baylor.

Big 12 Commissioner Kevin Weiburg said he was "surprised and saddened" by
the developments.

"While the conference office has not yet received a full report of the
rules violations involved in this case, I understand they are of a nature
that required action on the part of the university.

" ... We will also move forward with a process to review adjustments to the
conference men's basketball tournament format as a result of the postseason
competitive ban announced today," he said.

Baylor president Robert Sloan put the program on probation at least two
years, saying it would not participate in any postseason tournaments next
season, including the Big 12 tournament. He also offered to allow any
player to transfer.

Baylor junior John Lucas, Jr., said the revelations and departure of Bliss
also stunned him.

"He really taught me a lot," Lucas told Houston television station KRIV.
"It's kind of sad and it's like, when did all this happen? I didn't know
anything about it."

Sonya Hart, whose son Robert left the team in February, told The Dallas
Morning News last week that her son gave her the names of five players who
were using marijuana and drinking alcohol, and she gave the information to
the athletic department.

Her son shared an apartment with Dotson, who later moved in with Dennehy.
She said she never heard back from the school after the drug report.

Robert Hart declined to provide the newspaper with names of teammates who
used drugs, saying he didn't want to hurt his friendships with those still
at Baylor.

But he said the house he shared with Dotson was "the party house."

"It was one big party," he said. "There was always drinking and smoking."