Dennehy played basketball for Baylor
A police spokesman in Texas said Tuesday that the teammate of Patrick Dennehy -- a missing Baylor University basketball player and former St. Francis student -- is a "person of interest'' in the case.
Dennehy, 21, has been missing since June 19 and the Waco, Texas police say they have received information from informants that he is dead, although no body or any other proof of Dennehy's death has been found.
"We didn't find Mr. Dennehy,'' Waco police spokesman Steve Anderson said at a televised Tuesday news conference.
Dennehy played basketball at Wilcox High School in Santa Clara and St. Francis in Mountain View before attending the University of New Mexico and later Baylor to play basketball.
The teammate, a Maryland native, has been questioned by police once but Anderson would not label him a suspect.
Dennehy's 1996 Chevy Tahoe was found abandoned recently in Virginia Beach, Va., which has led police to question potential suspects that include fellow Baylor Basketball players, according to police.
Baylor men's basketball head coach Dave Bliss said Saturday that he, the university and his players are very concerned about Dennehy's disappearance.
"Patrick has been a true gem since coming into our program. He's hard working, with a solid grade point average, a young man we respect. His disappearance is terribly unsettling,'' Bliss said. "Right now the team, the university, all members of the Baylor family and myself are just in disbelief about these latest reports.''
Dennehy transferred to St. Francis from Wilcox in the middle of his junior year, and played one season of basketball for the Lancers, during which the team advanced to the finals of the Northern California tournament.
St. Francis basketball coach Steve Filios, who coached Dennehy during the 1999-2000 season, remembered Dennehy as "much more than your usual gym rat... He was a real Rennaisance type student, who was interested in poetry and literature, and loved to add to class discussions. Teachers loved having him in their classes."
Dennehy's academic interest transferred to a study of the intricacies of basketball. "His intellectual ability to understand the game of basketball was great. He made great comment to the other players in such a great, positive way," said Filios.
According to Filios, who kept in occasional contact with Dennehy at Baylor and New Mexico, Dennehy was excited about the prospect of being able to play at the collegiate level after having red-shirted his last season. "He was raring to go, to be on the court during a game again. He was kind of frustrated by the redshirt season, but he was ready to get in there," he said.
Filios remains optimistic that Dennehy will turn up unharmed, but added "From the team, and all of St. Francis, our prayers go with him, wherever he is."
-- Bay City News
