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WACO, Texas - The family of missing Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy visited a ranch outside town Thursday where he and his teammate fired guns and where police have searched for his body at least twice.
His mother and stepfather, Brian and Valorie Brabazon, their daughter and the player's girlfriend seemed to be trying to retrace his steps in the weeks before he vanished in mid June, said property owner Tammy Cox.
"We just kind of talked about Patrick, how he was a real polite, respectful boy," said Cox, whose 52-acre property is about 20 miles northeast of Waco. "They didn't ask me anything about Carlton."
Carlton Dotson, who played at Baylor and was Dennehy's roommate, remained jailed without bond on a murder charge in his home state of Maryland. An extradition hearing is set for Aug. 19.
Meanwhile, a car dealer from the small town of West, said Baylor coach Dave Bliss called him last fall and told him he had a new player who was looking for a sport-utility vehicle. The player was Dennehy. But auto dealer Jerrel Bolton told the Associated Press that Dennehy told him he got the $2,000 down payment for the 1996 Chevrolet Tahoe he bought from "one of his girlfriends" - not from the Baylor coaching staff.
Baylor's athletic department opened an internal inquiry this week into whether coaches made improper payments to Dennehy, a claim denied by Bliss and his staff.
Among the allegations is that Dennehy emerged from basketball offices last fall with between $1,200 to $1,800 that he told his girlfriend, Jessica De La Rosa, came from a coach and was to go toward the purchase of a car.
CLEMSON: An assistant football coach said he violated NCAA rules by running with a wide receiver he was disciplining. Wide receiver coach Dabo Swinney said he made redshirt freshman Kelvin Grant run 35 minutes last week for failing to attend study hall sessions. Swinney told the Greenville News he ran with Grant, a violation during the summer that is seen as a coach having an impermissible summer workout with a player, he said. He does not expect a major penalty.
SOUTH CAROLINA: Running back Daccus Turman was reinstated to the team, more than two weeks after a criminal domestic violence charge against him was dismissed. Turman played in all 12 games as a freshman last year, rushing for 179 yards and two touchdowns.
STANFORD: Men's basketball coach Mike Montgomery agreed to an extension through 2007-08.
USF: Rick Costello was named chief financial officer for athletics. Costello joins USF from San Jose State, where he was assistant athletic director for business operations since 2001. The CFO will replace the deputy athletic director, vacant since Corey Johnson resigned in October. At San Jose State, Costello developed and managed a $12-million athletic budget, slightly smaller than USF's. From 1997-2001 he was a senior budget analyst at Lehigh, where he earned an MBA in 1994.
Also, the track and field team signed five men and 11 women. The men's signees include local-distance standouts Leto's Coe Fedorenko and Admiral Farragut's John Biffar. Plant City middle-distance runner Sara Hall is among the female signees.
WASHINGTON: Rick Neuheisel's lawyers will meet with the NCAA and a high-ranking school official Monday before the school announces a resolution to the fired football coach's appeal. Neuheisel was fired for violating NCAA rules by taking part in neighborhood gambling pools on the past two NCAA basketball tournaments.
- Staff writer Pete Young contributed to this report.