Harvey Thomas had nothing to do with Patrick Dennehy's disappearance and didn't make any threats toward Dennehy or Carlton Dotson, Thomas' mentor, Anthony Poole, told ESPN.com by phone Thursday from his Fredericksburg, Va., home.

Poole, speaking out on the subject for the first time, said Thomas is extremely upset that his name has been linked to a possible crime and/or threats made against his Baylor teammates.

"He doesn't know what's going on (with the case),'' said Poole, who added he talks to Thomas daily and sometimes twice a day. Poole said Thomas and Dennehy talked about being roommates next season but Thomas' girlfriend decided to go to Baylor.

"The media is running his name in the mud,'' said Poole, who is the lone adult figure in Thomas' life after his father, Harvey Thomas Sr., died last year. Poole said Thomas' mother was "out of the picture" years earlier. "[Thomas] called me saying that he's got reporters going into his apartment and taking pictures. He's real upset about it. It's getting crazy down there.''

Thomas' name surfaced this week. The name "Harvey" was in an affidavit made public Monday as threatening Dotson and Dennehy and was reported by other friends of Dennehy.

Poole and Baylor coach Dave Bliss said Thomas spoke with Waco investigators once and was cooperative.

"But he didn't know anything,'' Poole said. "He said he would take a lie detector test but they said it wasn't necessary.''

Poole and Bliss told ESPN.com that Thomas became good friends with Dennehy after Dennehy was Thomas' host during a recruiting visit. Thomas, who started out at Georgetown for his freshman season, played at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Junior College last season.

Poole said Thomas didn't get to Waco until the first week of June for the start of the first summer session. Thomas was at Bliss' basketball camp while attending summer school classes, according to Bliss and Poole. Poole and Bliss said Thomas hasn't been home to Virginia since March 14-24, following the basketball season. Poole said Bliss and assistant coach Rodney Belcher went on a recruiting visit to Poole's house.

Dennehy's car was found in Virginia Beach, Va., near Fredericksburg and Hurlock, Md., Dotson's hometown. Dotson is in Hurlock, Md., but according to Poole and Bliss, Thomas has been in Waco the entire month of June.

Dotson's estranged wife, Melissa Jill Kethley, told the Waco Tribune-Herald that Dotson had been receiving threats for months. Poole said that means it can't be Thomas since he wasn't in Waco until June.

Poole said Thomas doesn't have any anger issues, either. "If Harvey got in any arguments it would be only on the basketball court if he dunked on a kid or competitive stuff like that,'' Poole said. "Patrick helped Harvey come to Baylor. When he went on an official visit they were hanging out all of the time. They are friends. I was down there. They keep saying some man named Harvey. But they don't say a last name. The other kid (Dennehy's friend Daniel Okopnyi) said it was an East Coast recruit, so I'm not sure what he's talking about.''

Thomas was a highly rated recruit for Bliss. He's expected to be an impact player in the Big 12 next to all-Big 12 forward Lawrence Roberts. Bliss' plans were to use Dennehy as one of the first forwards off the bench. Dotson wasn't going to see playing time and decided, after meeting with Bliss, that he would look for a different place to play for his senior season.

Thomas' departure from Georgetown was never fully explained by the Hoyas. Members of the Hoyas staff said Thomas and Georgetown coach Craig Esherick didn't get along. Poole reiterated that point. Thomas had eligibility issues at the start of the season for the Hoyas and, when he did play, his minutes were erratic. He was, however, considered one of the top talents on the team.

Thomas seems to have had a quieter stint at the junior college. "While he was here, we had no significant problems with him," Northeastern Oklahoma A&M coach Jason Turk said. "He was pretty good student. He had a good season for us. He was a fairly coachable kid. He graduated and moved on. He was a finesse kid. He wasn't physical. We had no issues with him at all from discipline standpoint. Our most serious problem was that we couldn't get him to play with the same passion on defense as offense.''

Poole said Thomas was looking forward to playing for the Bears. "He's excited about Baylor,'' Poole said. "He wanted to play with Lawrence Roberts and Patrick. He said, with the three of them, they would go right through the Big 12.''

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.