Syracuse Coach Fired Over Sex Accusations
Image by getty images
FIred From Orange: Longtime Syracuse University basketball assistant Bernie Fine was fired after a new tape surfaced that bolstered child molestation accusations. Image by getty images
Syracuse University basketball coach Bernie Fine was fired Sunday as new details emerged about sex abuse allegations against the longtime assistant.
Fine, a senior assistant to head coach Jim Boeheim and founding member of the Jewish Coaches Association, was dumped after a tape surfaced in which Fine’s wife appeared to back up the claims by a former player that he was molested as a boy, ESPN and other outlets reported.
“Bernie has issues, maybe that he’s not aware of, but he has issues,” Laurie Fine told accuser Bobby Davis in a 2003 call. “And you trusted somebody you shouldn’t have trusted.”
Davis had gone to police about the accusations before but the statute of limitations had expired. Local newspapers got tips about the alleged abuse but were unable to confirm it.
The story heated up again when Davis reiterated the accusations in the wake of the Penn State child abuse scandal this fall.
Boeheim initially stood by Fine strongly, asserting that Davis concocted the accusations for financial gain and that he was “not Joe Paterno,” a reference to the Penn State football coach. He was forced to backtrack from those statements after Fine’s firing, saying that he “deeply regretted” them.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
