A new child sexual abuse case emerges in college sports

Will Syracuse University fair any better?

Associate head basketball coach Bernie Fine has been accused of molesting two of the team’s ball boys, according to a report by ESPN. The two alleged victims spoke with the ESPN.

“One alleged victim, Bobby Davis, now 39, told Outside the Lines that Fine molested him beginning in 1984, shortly before Davis entered the seventh grade. Davis, the team’s ball boy for six years beginning in 1984, said the abuse occurred at Fine’s home, at the Syracuse basketball facilities, and on road trips, including the 1987 Final Four.

“The second alleged victim, Mike Lang, now 45, is Davis’ stepbrother and was also a ball boy for several years. He told Outside the Lines that Fine molested him starting when Lang was in fifth or sixth grade.”

The alleged incident with Fine, like the one involving Jerry Sandusky at Penn State, is not a PR scandal. It’s a human tragedy. However, in the case of Penn State, the way the school handled the crisis quickly became a PR firestorm for its leadership.