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CNN Live Today

Interview With Sports Writer Mark Smith

Aired June 30, 2003 - 11:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: For more on the story, Patrick Dennehy played high school ball in California before starting his college career at the University of New Mexico. Mark Smith is a sports writer for "The Albuquerque Journal" and he joins us from Waco this morning. Mark, good morning, thanks for joining us.
MARK SMITH, "ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL": Morning, Daryn. No problem.

KAGAN: As I understand it, you are one of the first to break the story about how foul play was probably involved or at least officials suspected foul play was involved. Any other details around that that you can tell us that would lead to that conclusion?

SMITH: Well, actually, that would have been a story that we ran on Thursday last week when I was able to get ahold of the Virginia Beach police who said that Dennehy's car had turned up abandoned in a parking lot out in Virginia Beach and they suspected foul play.

At the time the Waco police were still treating it as a missing persons incident, at least publicly. They then another day or so later also admitted that they suspected foul play with a possible homicide, and the questioning of teammates.

KAGAN: Right. I want to get to the teammate angle in just a moment.

But first let's go back a step. As we mentioned, you are with "The Albuquerque Journal" which takes us back to New Mexico. That's where Patrick Dennehy played before transferring to Baylor. He had kind of a choppy history, didn't he, as a player.

SMITH: Yes, he did. There's a lot being made of the fact that Patrick, he had some arguments with teammates. There's no hiding that. But it was a very dysfunctional team. There were a lot of arguments between teammates those couple, three years under former coach, Fran Frucila (ph).

Following Patrick Dennehy's sophomore season -- well, actually towards the end of his sophomore season, one of the final games of the year, they were playing at Air Force, and New Mexico was losing to Air Force late in the game, three minutes left in the game. And Patrick got into a verbal confrontation with one of the teammates. Then it escalated when another teammate got involved.

There was some chest shoving, they went to the bench during a timeout, finger pointing both ways. Dennehy eventually stormed off the court after pushing another teammate and kicking a chair over. He left the game and never came back.

Afterwards it was then the coach and one of the doctors said Pat was being treated for a confidential medical condition. So they were not going to suspend him or take action against him. They wouldn't talk about the condition.

Following the season, however, the coach was -- he then resigned under pressure, and Dennehy said that there was no medical condition, it was just a fabrication, in order to keep him in the lineup because he was one of the team's best players.

KAGAN: All right, let's fast forward to now. Unusual to have that much discord on a team, and yet it doesn't lead to charges of murder. What is going on in the Waco-area that is even bringing up the idea that players on the Baylor team could be suspects in the disappearance?

SMITH: Well actually I have not heard the word "murder" exactly. They've said "homicide." They are treating it as a homicide.

But a lot of people are trying to make the correlation that his temper might have led to something here with his teammates because of the fact they are questioning teammates. The Waco police are not saying anything about that at this point.

Patrick's girlfriend, who lives in Albuquerque, Jessica Taylor Rosa (ph), told us yesterday during a news conference that that's just ridiculous notion to think that his tirade that he had at the Air Force Academy was in any way reflective of how he is now or how he was with his teammates here. She said there weren't these problems at all with his teammates here. And she says that's not something that people should speculate or put together in any way.

KAGAN: A lot of questions out there and a lot of unanswered questions. Mark Smith from "The Albuquerque Journal," thank you for that. I understand there will be a new conference later today there in Waco and we will look forward to getting more information there.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired June 30, 2003 - 11:05   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: For more on the story, Patrick Dennehy played high school ball in California before starting his college career at the University of New Mexico. Mark Smith is a sports writer for "The Albuquerque Journal" and he joins us from Waco this morning. Mark, good morning, thanks for joining us.
MARK SMITH, "ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL": Morning, Daryn. No problem.

KAGAN: As I understand it, you are one of the first to break the story about how foul play was probably involved or at least officials suspected foul play was involved. Any other details around that that you can tell us that would lead to that conclusion?

SMITH: Well, actually, that would have been a story that we ran on Thursday last week when I was able to get ahold of the Virginia Beach police who said that Dennehy's car had turned up abandoned in a parking lot out in Virginia Beach and they suspected foul play.

At the time the Waco police were still treating it as a missing persons incident, at least publicly. They then another day or so later also admitted that they suspected foul play with a possible homicide, and the questioning of teammates.

KAGAN: Right. I want to get to the teammate angle in just a moment.

But first let's go back a step. As we mentioned, you are with "The Albuquerque Journal" which takes us back to New Mexico. That's where Patrick Dennehy played before transferring to Baylor. He had kind of a choppy history, didn't he, as a player.

SMITH: Yes, he did. There's a lot being made of the fact that Patrick, he had some arguments with teammates. There's no hiding that. But it was a very dysfunctional team. There were a lot of arguments between teammates those couple, three years under former coach, Fran Frucila (ph).

Following Patrick Dennehy's sophomore season -- well, actually towards the end of his sophomore season, one of the final games of the year, they were playing at Air Force, and New Mexico was losing to Air Force late in the game, three minutes left in the game. And Patrick got into a verbal confrontation with one of the teammates. Then it escalated when another teammate got involved.

There was some chest shoving, they went to the bench during a timeout, finger pointing both ways. Dennehy eventually stormed off the court after pushing another teammate and kicking a chair over. He left the game and never came back.

Afterwards it was then the coach and one of the doctors said Pat was being treated for a confidential medical condition. So they were not going to suspend him or take action against him. They wouldn't talk about the condition.

Following the season, however, the coach was -- he then resigned under pressure, and Dennehy said that there was no medical condition, it was just a fabrication, in order to keep him in the lineup because he was one of the team's best players.

KAGAN: All right, let's fast forward to now. Unusual to have that much discord on a team, and yet it doesn't lead to charges of murder. What is going on in the Waco-area that is even bringing up the idea that players on the Baylor team could be suspects in the disappearance?

SMITH: Well actually I have not heard the word "murder" exactly. They've said "homicide." They are treating it as a homicide.

But a lot of people are trying to make the correlation that his temper might have led to something here with his teammates because of the fact they are questioning teammates. The Waco police are not saying anything about that at this point.

Patrick's girlfriend, who lives in Albuquerque, Jessica Taylor Rosa (ph), told us yesterday during a news conference that that's just ridiculous notion to think that his tirade that he had at the Air Force Academy was in any way reflective of how he is now or how he was with his teammates here. She said there weren't these problems at all with his teammates here. And she says that's not something that people should speculate or put together in any way.

KAGAN: A lot of questions out there and a lot of unanswered questions. Mark Smith from "The Albuquerque Journal," thank you for that. I understand there will be a new conference later today there in Waco and we will look forward to getting more information there.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com