Dave Bliss
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David Gregory Bliss (born September 20, 1943) is an American
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
coach. He served as the head men's basketball coach at
University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...
,
Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , ...
, the
University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...
,
Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...
, and Southwestern Christian University, an NAIA school in
Bethany, Oklahoma Bethany is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. The community was founded in 1909 by followers of the Church of the Nazarene from Oklahoma City. History Bethany was founded July 2 ...
. Bliss resigned from Baylor in 2003 following internal and NCAA investigations into a number of circumstances surrounding the murder of Baylor player Patrick Dennehy by teammate Carlton Dotson. These included the alleged involvement of Bliss in making illicit tuition payments for players Dennehy and Corey Herring, and his attempt to frame Dennehy posthumously as a drug dealer in order to provide cover for himself; in 2005, the
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
issued Bliss a 10-year "show-cause" notice.


Education

Bliss was born and raised in
Binghamton, New York Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...
and graduated from Binghamton Central High School in 1961. He graduated from
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
in 1965 where he was elected to the
Sphinx Head Society The Sphinx Head Society is the oldest senior honor society at Cornell University. Sphinx Head recognizes Cornell senior men and women who have demonstrated respectable strength of character on top of a dedication to leadership and service at Corn ...
. He then earned an
MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
from Cornell in 1967. He was an all-
Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...
guard at Cornell, was captain of the baseball team, and was named to the first team
Eastern Intercollegiate Baseball League The Eastern Intercollegiate Baseball League was a baseball-only conference that existed from 1930 to 1992. It consisted of the eight Ivy League schools along with Army and Navy. The league disbanded after the 1992 season, when Army and Navy joined ...
in 1965. Bliss was inducted to Cornell's athletic Hall of Fame in 1984.


Coaching background

Bliss began his coaching career as an assistant coach at
Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
under
Bob Knight Robert Montgomery Knight (born October 25, 1940) is an American former basketball coach. Nicknamed "the General", Knight won 902 NCAA Division I men's college basketball games, a record at the time of his retirement, and currently fourth all-ti ...
from 1967 to 1969. After serving as an assistant at Cornell from 1969 to 1971, Bliss rejoined Knight at
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...
from 1971 to 1975, where he met graduate assistant coach Doug Ash. Bliss got his first head coaching position at the
University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...
, where he coached from 1975 to 1980. Ash joined Bliss at Oklahoma as his top assistant, and remained with Bliss for the rest of his career. It was at Oklahoma where Bliss met his wife, Claudia. From 1980–88, Bliss was the head coach at
Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , ...
. He led the Mustangs to three NCAA tournaments, in 1984, 1985 and 1988. His best season was the 1987–88 season, in which the Mustangs won their first outright
Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...
regular-season title in 21 years and won the Southwest Conference tournament. One of Bliss's most successful players while at SMU was
Jon Koncak Jon Francis Koncak (born May 17, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player. A 7'0" center from Southern Methodist University (SMU), Koncak was selected with the fifth pick in the 1985 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks. Koncak spent t ...
, who was the fifth overall pick in the 1985 NBA draft by the
Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...
and gold medalist on the 1984 U.S. Olympic basketball team coached by Knight. An NCAA investigation during the mid-'80s reported that Bliss was involved in payments to his players, including Koncak, in violation of NCAA rules. But the NCAA chose not to pursue the investigation any further due to the football program having received the "
death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
". Koncak told the ''
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'' that he received payments while at SMU, in violation of NCAA rules:
The focus of that story was obviously Dave Bliss, but other people got caught up in it, which is unfortunate," Koncak said. "But, yes, there had been some benefits while I was at SMU, and I did accept some of those benefits. What I did was against the rules.
The NCAA investigation memo from Bliss's time at SMU leaked during 2003, at the peak of the Baylor scandal. The memo reported that Koncak had illegally received the money during his junior and senior years from boosters as well as Bliss. Bliss left SMU after the 1988 season to take over as head coach at the
University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...
, largely due to the violations surrounding the Mustangs football program. He stayed at New Mexico for 11 years and is the school's all-time winningest coach. Under him, the Lobos went to seven NCAA tournaments, and notched four NCAA tournament wins. His best season at the school was 1995–96, when the Lobos finished 28–5 — second best in school history.
Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...
hired Bliss as head coach for Baylor Bears basketball on March 23, 1999. In his four seasons at Baylor, Bliss's team only made the post-season once. During his second season (2000–2001), Baylor made the
National Invitation Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...
, where they lost in the first round to Bliss's old team, New Mexico. Dennehy was a freshman on that New Mexico team that beat Baylor, and was named to the Mountain West All-Freshman team.


The Baylor scandal

After a memorial service for Dennehy in
San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...
, Bliss asked to meet with school investigators. At that meeting, he was told that Dennehy's girlfriend had told them Bliss paid for the sections of Dennehy and Herring's tuition not covered by financial aid. Bliss confessed to making the payments, estimated at $7,000—a major violation of NCAA rules. Two members of Baylor's 2001–02 squad told the
Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...
that Bliss and several members of his staff had been present at a pickup game involving star recruit Harvey Thomas during his official visit to Baylor—another major NCAA rules violation. It also emerged that Bliss and his staff knew about rampant
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and
alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...
abuse among Baylor players, but did not follow procedures for reporting failed drug tests. Under the circumstances, Bliss was forced to resign on August 8, 2003. After Bliss resigned, it emerged that he had told players to make up a story about Dennehy being a drug dealer in order to pay for his tuition. The story was intended to serve as a cover-up for Bliss paying Dennehy's tuition. The conversations were tape-recorded by one of Bliss's assistants, Abar Rouse. Bliss had threatened to fire Rouse if he didn't go along with the scheme, leading Rouse to record the conversations. Rouse later sued his attorney for releasing the tapes to investigators. Bliss later called his actions in this phase of the incident "despicable." Internal and NCAA investigations during 2005 revealed further violations. Besides paying parts of Dennehy and Herring's tuition, Bliss admitted that he'd concealed under-the-table payments to Herring and lied to both the NCAA and Baylor investigators. He also admitted to telling assistant coaches to file false expense reports and lie to Baylor investigators. In 2005, Bliss was given a 10-year show-cause order for what the NCAA called "despicable behavior", "unethical conduct", and "a blatant and sweeping disregard" of NCAA rules. Had he been hired by an NCAA member school in an athletic capacity before the penalty had expired in 2015, Bliss would have had to agree to abide by any restrictions the NCAA infractions committee imposed on him, and then report back to the NCAA in writing every six months for the duration of the order or until the end of his employment. Bliss's prospective employer would have had to show cause for why Bliss would not have to have restrictions imposed on his duties. The penalty is the most severe punishment the NCAA can hand a coach. Ash was hit with a five-year show-cause order. Another assistant, Rodney Belcher, was hit with a seven-year show-cause order for lying about recruiting violations committed in the course of bringing Dennehy to Baylor.


Post-Baylor

Bliss served for two years as a volunteer assistant coach at a
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-area high school before being hired as head coach of the
Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...
's
Dakota Wizards The Dakota Wizards were an American professional basketball team based in Bismarck, North Dakota. They played in the NBA Development League from 2006 until 2012. After the 2011–12 season, the team relocated to Santa Cruz, California, and now pl ...
. He only lasted one season as coach of the Dakota Wizards before resigning, citing family reasons. In 2008, he returned to Texas for several speaking arrangements, including a Baptist church sermon and the annual convention of the Texas High School Coaches Association. In May 2010, Bliss became dean of students, athletic director and head men's basketball coach at
Allen Academy Allen Academy is an independent co-educational day school located in Bryan, Texas that was founded in 1886 by John H. and Rivers O. Allen. The campus is located northeast of Texas A&M University and enrolls about 340 students from throughout th ...
, a
college preparatory school A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher education ...
in
Bryan, Texas Bryan is a city and the county seat of Brazos County, Texas, United States. It is located in the heart of the Brazos Valley (East and Central Texas). As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 83,980. Bryan borders the city of College ...
. Almost immediately Bliss became embroiled in controversy. On November 28, 2010, it was reported by multiple news outlets in Bryan that Bliss received a two-year suspension from coaching basketball and a one-year suspension from school administration at Allen Academy by the
Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools The Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, or TAPPS, is an organization headquartered in the Lone Star Tower at Texas Motor Speedway Fort Worth, Texas. It was formerly headquartered at the Salado Civic Center in Salado, Texas. Foun ...
(TAPPS), the largest athletic governing body of private schools in Texas. The suspension came less than a month after the start of his first season as head boys' basketball coach and less than three months after joining the school in an administrative role. TAPPS Director Edd Burleson declined to comment on the specifics of the ruling from the nine-member board, although Allen Academy Head of School John Rouse, in a letter to parents, said that Bliss had forged Rouse's signature on an approval form for a potential student-athlete. Rouse told the parents that Bliss did not deserve the suspension and announced that the school would withdraw from TAPPS, allowing Bliss to continue to coach. Allen Academy eventually joined the Texas Christian Athletic League (TCAL) and won the boys' basketball state title in Bliss' first season. In a memorandum, TAPPS cited the Allen Academy administration for a "lack of institutional control". The Baylor Athletic Department was cited for this same offense following the NCAA's 2003 investigation. The SMU Athletic Department received two separate citations for a lack of institutional control during Bliss' tenure as head coach of the Mustangs. KBTX reported that Bliss had broken TAPPS rules by illegally recruiting potential players from other schools, including two senior transfers from Houston currently on the team. Both players enrolled as boarding students over the summer and were able to play on the varsity team without having to sit out the mandated one-year due to their boarding status. The news outlet also reported that the students received as much as 80% off the school's $10,000 annual tuition. In 2015, Bliss was hired as the head coach at NAIA-member school Southwestern Christian University. Bliss resigned from Southwestern Christian on April 3, 2017, following the airing of the
Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
documentary ''Disgraced'', which chronicled the cover-up at Baylor. In 2017, a
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
high school hired him as their head coach. Bliss resigned in 2018, after one season as head coach.


Head coaching record


College


See also

* Baylor University basketball scandal * ''Disgraced'' (2017 film), an
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
winning
Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
documentary on the 2003 murder of
Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...
basketball player
Patrick Dennehy The murder of Patrick Dennehy, an American college basketball player for Baylor University, occurred on June 12, 2003, when he was shot by Baylor teammate Carlton Dotson. The murder set off a chain of events which led to the Baylor basketball sc ...


References


Further reading

*


External links


Southwestern Christian profile
(archived)

(archived)

(archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bliss, Dave 1943 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Army Black Knights men's basketball coaches Baptists from New York (state) Baseball players from New York (state) Basketball coaches from New York (state) Basketball players from New York City Baylor Bears men's basketball coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Continental Basketball Association coaches Cornell Big Red baseball players Cornell Big Red men's basketball players Guards (basketball) Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball coaches NCAA sanctions New Mexico Lobos men's basketball coaches Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball coaches SMU Mustangs men's basketball coaches Southwestern Christian Eagles men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Binghamton, New York