By JASON KING
The Kansas City Star
Of all his possessions, one of the things Patrick Dennehy cherished the most was a worn copy of The Rose That Grew From Concrete, a collection of poems by Tupac Shakur.
Friends said there are parallels between Dennehy and the slain rapper.
"Pat just liked Tupac's honesty and the way he looked at things," said Senque Carey, Dennehy's former teammate at New Mexico. "Most people wonder why things happen, but he'd tell you why in a whole different way. That's just how Pat was. He looked at things deeper than most people looked at them."
Indeed, those closest to Dennehy described him as intellectual and thoughtful. He liked to play chess and write prose and listen to music -- everyone from Tupac to Mariah Carey to Lenny Kravitz to Dave Matthews.
When [girlfriend Jessica] De La Rosa was cleaning out Dennehy's apartment last week, she discovered a Bible with highlighted scripture.
Dennehy, family members said, was a born-again Christian.
"He believes in and loves the Lord," said Brian Brabazon, Dennehy's stepfather. "Now, with going to Baylor, he was recommitting himself to God."
Dennehy and De La Rosa were also planning to get married. They had already picked out a ring in a Tiffany's catalog and, according to De La Rosa, were such "goofballs" that they wore matching tennis shoes and shirts when they were on dates.
Thoughts about Dennehy's immediate future, however, revolved around athletics.
Despite missing his junior and most of his senior season of high school basketball, Dennehy received offers from programs such as Washington and Arizona State.
In the end, though, Dennehy signed with a New Mexico team coached by Fran Fraschilla. Although his knee wasn't 100 percent healthy by the start of his freshman season, Dennehy still managed to average 4.2 rebounds en route to earning the team's Most Improved Player Award.
"We probably should've redshirted him that year," said Joe Dooley, a former Lobos assistant who recruited Dennehy to New Mexico. Dooley recently joined Bill Self's staff at Kansas.
"Still, by the time he was a sophomore, Patrick was one of the best -- if not the best -- young big men in the Mountain West Conference."
Dooley recalled how much Dennehy loved music and how often he was spotted reading car magazines. He also said Dennehy was found of his Rottweiler, Dakota.
"All the other players were scared of (Dakota)," Dooley said. "But my wife would drive up with the dog in the car, and Pat would walk right over to the window and pet him and wrestle with him a little.
"There was a real compassionate side to Pat."
Dennehy averaged 10.6 points and 7.5 rebounds during his second year at New Mexico, but an on-court altercation with a teammate overshadowed his season. In a conference game against Air Force, Dennehy mishandled a pass and argued with the guard who had tried to feed him the ball.
He wasn't suspended. Fraschilla, though, was dismissed after the season. Soon after, new coach Ritchie McKay dismissed Dennehy from the team after Dennehy walked out of an off-season workout.
"I just think Pat was misunderstood," [former teammate Senque] Carey said. "Once he got to Baylor, he had a fresh start."
Under NCAA transfer rules, Dennehy was forced to sit out the Bears' 2002-03 season. He would have been able to practice with the team, but minor knee surgery in the fall limited him mostly to stationary bike rides and other rehabilitation exercises.
When he began regaining his strength during the spring, Dennehy would often play in pick-up games at the Baylor student life center.
"He was pretty dominant," said Baylor law student Paul Bailiff, who played against Dennehy in some of the pick-up games. "A lot of guys out there were talking smack. But I never heard Dennehy say more than two words.
"I think he was mainly just trying to stay in shape."
Now... Dennehy will never get the chance to don Baylor's green and gold. Brabazon, his stepfather, said the hardest part about touring the university campus last week was stopping by the Ferrell Center to see Dennehy's locker.
"Pat's name," Brabazon said, "is still on it."
Valorie Brabazon, Dennehy's mother, had an equally difficult time cleaning out his apartment.
"It was very hard on me as a mother trying to fold his clothes up," she said. "Everything that was his was there. The only thing missing was my son."
Excerpt posted with permission of the author from The Kansas City Star, July 27, 2003