Media Remind Fans Of Dave Bliss, Murder Scandal That Baylor Had to Rebuild From

Baylor stunned Gonzaga on Monday night to win its first NCAA national championship.

The Zags entered the game with a 31-0 record but the Bears dominated both ends of the floor en route to an 86-70 victory.

While the win was undoubtedly impressive, what might be even more impressive is how head coach Scott Drew turned around a Baylor program that had been run into the ground.

In 2003, Drew inherited a program riddled by scandal after Baylor player Carlton Dotson pleaded guilty to murdering teammate Patrick Dennehy and was sentenced to a 35-year prison term. The NCAA began investigating the program for allegations of drug use among players and improper payments to players by the coaching staff. Baylor was hit with a probation that extended through 2010. Former head coach Dave Bliss, who tried to cover the payments by posthumously framing Dotson as a drug dealer, received a ten-year show cause penalty from the NCAA, meaning NCAA sanctions and probation would follow him to any job he took.

During Monday night’s game, there was plenty of talk on the CBS broadcast about Drew turning the program around, but not much talk as to what he was turning it around from.

Not to worry, media members made sure Twitter knew exactly what had happened.

Kate Constable

Kate Constable is a daily news writer for BSM. She has worked on-air and behind the scenes for a number of media outlets including Stadium, NBC Sports Chicago, KAAL and KARE television, and The Daily Iowan. You can find her on Twitter @KateConstable.

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