Russell is drawn into a very personal investigation when the coach of his son's college basketball team is found murdered in the team locker room. Tom Burns, the coach, is found murdered the locker room showers after having his head bashed in with a blunt object, but the CSIs can't locate the murder weapon. Initially, the evidence points to an influential booster and donor for the school, since he had a history of heated conflicts with Burns. However, when the coach's blood is discovered on the jersey belonging to Russell's son, Charlie, all the evidence starts to point toward Charlie being involved with Burns' death. After the CSIs dig through phone records and evidence at Burns' home, their focus shifts to Charlie's new girlfriend, a gorgeous grad student who was having a secret relationship with Burns on the side. Russell confronts her, both about the murder and lying to his son, but she denies being the killer and then breaks up with Charlie. Eventually, unique patterns in the blood splatter at the crime scene help the team find the murder weapon: an antique basketball belonging to the president of the university, Rob Austin, who eventually admits to murdering Coach Burns.