News

FINE FIRED

By Michael Cohen

UPDATED: Nov. 27, 2011 at 10:33 p.m.

Bernie Fine, the associate head coach for men’s basketball at Syracuse University, was fired from the university Sunday.

The termination comes in the aftermath of allegations that Fine sexually assaulted two former ball boys and another youth. The announcement was made in a statement from Kevin Quinn, SU’s senior vice president for public affairs, on the university website.

‘At the direction of Chancellor (Nancy) Cantor, Bernie Fine’s employment with Syracuse University has been terminated, effective immediately,’ Quinn said in the statement.

Cantor also issued a statement to the university Sunday night. She said in the statement that SU has been cooperating fully with the authorities and that the university did not have access to a tape-recorded phone call between Fine’s wife, Laurie, and Bobby Davis, one of the former ball boys and an accuser, when the university conducted its investigation in 2005.



‘Frankly, the events of the past week have shaken us all,’ she said in the statement.

Cantor said it is vital that the university examines its protocols and actions in dealing with such serious allegations. Cantor said the university needs to learn all that it can from this terrible lesson. If anything good comes out of this tragedy, Cantor said, it will be that the basic principle that SU does not tolerate abuse will be enforced.

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim issued a statement through Pete Moore, director of athletic communications, in an email Sunday. Boeheim said he is personally very shocked at the news of the allegations because he has never witnessed any of the alleged activities.

‘I believe the university took the appropriate step tonight,’ he said in the statement. ‘What is most important is that this matter be fully investigated and that anyone with information be supported to come forward so that the truth can be found. I deeply regret any statements I made that might have inhibited that from occurring or been insensitive to victims of abuse.’

The firing comes 10 days after ESPN broke a story detailing allegations of molestation against Fine by two former SU ball boys.

Bobby Davis, 39, and his stepbrother, Mike Lang, 45, both accused Fine of molesting them in the 1980s and ‘90s.

A third accuser, Zach Tomaselli, 23, of Lewiston, Maine, accused Fine of molesting him in 2002. That molestation allegedly took place in a hotel room the night before SU played an away game at Pittsburgh.

Nobody answered the door at Fine’s house. Across the street at the Boeheim residence, Juli Boeheim waved Daily Orange reporters away from the Boeheim property.

Fine was a student manager when Boeheim was a freshman on the Syracuse basketball team. After graduating from SU in 1967, Fine went into business for himself. He returned to SU to be an assistant under Boeheim in 1976.

He was in his 35th season as an assistant and worked primarily with SU’s forwards and centers during his career. He worked closely with Orange stars Roosevelt Bouie, Rony Seikaly, Etan Thomas and Arinze Onuaku throughout the years.

In person outside Manley Field House on Sunday night, Athletic Director Daryl Gross declined to comment.

A call to assistant coach Mike Hopkins was not immediately returned. Scoop Jardine, a senior guard on the men’s basketball team, declined to comment when reached on his cellphone. Dion Waiters, a sophomore guard on the men’s basketball team, declined to comment when reached on his cellphone.

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— Asst. Sports Editors Mark Cooper and Ryne Gery, Asst. News Editor Liz Sawyer, Staff Writer David Propper and Asst. Copy Editors Andrew Tredinnick and Breanne Van Nostrand contributed reporting to this article. 





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