Friends and colleagues were surprised and saddened by the resignation of Baylor basketball coach Dave Bliss on Friday, while a member of a committee investigating possible rules violations by the team said the work is far from done.

Bliss resigned after the committee found that he was involved in two players receiving improper financial aid and that staff members did not properly report failed drug tests.

The investigation began after junior forward Patrick Dennehy was reported missing in mid-June. He was later found dead at a rock quarry near campus and former teammate Carlton Dotson was charged with his murder.

Family and friends of both players have said Baylor coaches helped the men financially and knew about marijuana use by some players.

"I believe this has been a strong effort to begin getting to the bottom of these accusations in a rapid fashion," said Kirk Watson, a lawyer and former Austin mayor who is on the school's internal investigative committee. "While significant progress has been made in a very short time, this investigation is not over."

Ellis Kidd, a junior who played at Oklahoma State before transferring to Baylor, told Saturday's editions of The Dallas Morning News that he would stay on the team.

"I'm in the Big 12," Kidd said. "I'm not going anywhere. ... I talked to (Bliss) the other day and he seemed like everything was normal. That's how coaches are, though. They tell you some things and mean another. It's all a big game to me."

Others, including junior Kenny Taylor, told the newspaper they were too stunned to know what they'd do next.

"I'm pretty much in shock," he said from his Sugar Land home. "There's a lot going on and everything happened at one time. I have to sit down with my mother and my family and weigh all my options."

Harvey Thomas, a junior who transferred from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M junior college, said he had been looking forward to playing with Bliss.

"It's a blow to me," he said. "I liked his style, his demeanor, everything. We should've been the first to know. I'm hurt. Things never go the way they're supposed to. It's tough."

Brian O'Neill, an assistant coach for Bliss at New Mexico and Baylor, said Bliss' announcement comes as somewhat of a surprise.

"Once you start an internal investigation in your school or any school, some dirt is going to come up in some cases," said O'Neill, who left Baylor in April to move back to New Mexico. "And with all the negative publicity swirling around Pat (Dennehy) ... there was going to be some other disheartening things that would come out."

O'Neill said Bliss' decision to step down was a good one, calling his former boss a "standup guy" who would have had a difficult time coaching in a competitive conference this season with a "dark cloud" of controversy following him.

"It was going to be hard for him to continue coach at that school with all this negative press and negative reports surrounding the program," he said.

O'Neill added: "Coach bliss is not the kind of guy who would leave unless he felt he need to step down."

But O'Neill, now an assistant coach for the New Mexico women's basketball team, emphasized that Baylor is not alone when it comes to NCAA rules violations.

"I think a lot of NCAA men's basketball programs operate in a gray area," he said. " ... And I think once the NCAA was allowed to investigate the program, a lot of those things in the gray area were exposed and, therefore, he may have felt responsible for some of those things that transpired."

O'Neill worked for Bliss at New Mexico from 1998 to 1999 and then followed Bliss to Baylor.

Big 12 Commissioner Kevin Weiburg said he was "surprised and saddened" by the developments.

"While the conference office has not yet received a full report of the rules violations involved in this case, I understand they are of a nature that required action on the part of the university.

" ... We will also move forward with a process to review adjustments to the conference men's basketball tournament format as a result of the postseason competitive ban announced today," he said.

Baylor president Robert Sloan put the program on probation at least two years, saying it would not participate in any postseason tournaments next season, including the Big 12 tournament. He also offered to allow any player to transfer.

Baylor junior John Lucas Jr., said the revelations and

departure of Bliss also stunned him.

"He really taught me a lot," Lucas told Houston television station KRIV. "It's kind of sad and it's like, when did all this happen? I didn't know anything about it."

Sonya Hart, whose son Robert left the team in February, told The Dallas Morning News last week that her son gave her the names of five players who were using marijuana and drinking alcohol, and she gave the information to the athletic department.

Her son shared an apartment with Dotson, who later moved in with Dennehy. She said she never heard back from the school after the drug report.

Robert Hart declined to provide the newspaper with names of teammates who used drugs, saying he didn't want to hurt his friendships with those still at Baylor.

But he said the house he shared with Dotson was "the party house."

"It was one big party," he said. "There was always drinking and smoking."