Late Thursday night, news broke of allegations against Bernie Fine, an assistant coach under Jim Boeheim in the Syracuse Orange college basketball program. A former ball boy, Bobby Davis, now 39 years old, claims that Fine molested him hundreds of times.
Jim Boeheim defended Fine in an interview with the New York Times. Actually, he emphatically defended Fine. Here’s an excerpt from Pete Thamel’s column:
Boeheim also said that it seemed โa little suspiciousโ that Davisโs relative decided to speak to ESPN in the wake of the Penn State allegations.
โI believe they are looking for money,โ Boeheim told ESPN.ย โI believe they saw what happened at Penn State and they are using ESPN to get money. That is what I believe.โ
โIโve known Bernie Fine for 45 years, and thereโs absolutely no way that I believe any of this could possibly have happened,โ he said. โThatโs the bottom line.โ
Boeheim also disagreed with specific parts of Davisโs story. Davis told ESPN that Boeheim had seen him โall the time in the hotel rooms, on road trips,โ relaying a specific story that Boeheim had scowled at him when he saw him in Fineโs hotel room.
Boeheim also mentioned the 2005 University investigation that ended prematurely due to lack of corroborating evidence. Today, a second accuser against Fine has come forward, but he happens to be a relative of Davis. It is not known at this time if the Syracuse city police are investigating his claim.
Boeheim went out on a very public limb for his guy; a gutsy statement at a time so early in the investigation. If more evidence breaks later, he could regret these statements. However, right now its looking like a battle of he said vs. he said.
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, a Google News site generating millions of unique visitors. Heโs also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports.
A Fulbright scholar and MBA, Banks has appeared on live radio all over the world; heโs also a member of the FWAA, USBWA and SPJ. The President of the United States follows him on Twitter (@Paul_M_BanksTSB) You should too.
