Jim Boeheim, who attended Syracuse University with Bernie Fine back in the 1960s, has known his trusted basketball aide for going on 50 years now. And he is absolutely convinced that beneath the smoke of these awful accusations against Fine no fire will be found.

"This is alleged to have occurred ... what?” Boeheim asked late Thursday night. “Twenty years ago? Am I in the right neighborhood? It might be 26 years ago? So, we are supposed to what? Stop the presses 26 years later? For a false allegation? For what I absolutely believe is a false allegation? I know he's lying about me seeing him in his hotel room. That's a lie. If he's going to tell one lie, I'm sure there's a few more of them.”

Boeheim was speaking of Bobby Davis, the 39-year-old man who has declared that Fine, SU's assistant basketball coach for 36 seasons, molested him on hundreds of occasions over a period of some 15 years beginning when Davis was 12 or 13. Specifically, Boeheim was referencing the charge by Davis that he, Boeheim, had seen Davis on multiple occasions in Fine’s hotel room on Orange basketball road trips.

"I never have been in Bernie Fine's hotel room in my life,” Boeheim said. “This is what, 16 to 18 years ago, or whatever it is? But I don't recall ever walking into any of my assistant coaches' rooms. Now, could I have once ... one time? I have a pretty good recollection of things, but I don't ever recollect ever walking into Bernie Fine's hotel room. Ever.”

Boeheim did admit that Davis, who lived in Fine’s basement for a while as a teen and served for a time as an Orange ball boy, did periodically travel with the SU basketball team. But, Boeheim offered, Davis traveled for a practical reason.

“I know Bobby,” Boeheim said. “He was one of 300 ball boys we’ve had. This kid ended up being a babysitter for Bernie. He babysat Bernie's kids. That's why he was on the trips. He'd babysit. The kid only traveled, to my knowledge, if he was babysitting Bernie's kids. This is when he was 18 years old. He was helping to babysit the kids. That's the only time I know about, from talking with Bernie.”

Asked what Davis’ possible motivation would be to tell his disturbing story at this time, Boeheim hesitated not at all.

“Here's why,” he said. “The Penn State thing came out and the kid behind this is trying to get money. He's tried before. And now he's trying again. If he gets this, he's going to sue the university and Bernie. What do you think is going to happen at Penn State? You know how much money is going to be involved in civil suits? I'd say about $50 million. That's what this is about. Money.”

» Complete coverage of abuse accusations against Bernie Fine



While Boeheim was upset on Thursday, he seemed even more perplexed. After all, the discussion was about his friend and about his friend's alleged dark side. And Boeheim found it difficult to connect the dots.

"Bernie helped a lot of kids, a lot of kids,” he said. “The Post-Standard and the university talked to those other kids (in 2003). None of them corroborated the story, at all. I know some of those kids. They've told me, 'Hey, Coach. Bernie helped me. He cared about me. He knew I needed help and he helped me.'

"You need to go to your people down there at the paper. They investigated this for four months. Do they remember that? And they found ... what? They investigated this and found nothing. They talked to Bernie's neighbors and friends ... everybody. They found nothing. Your paper would whitewash nothing. Don't you agree? They had nothing. They could not write a story. They found zero.”

However, with the Syracuse Police Department having begun a new investigation of Fine, the digging has begun again.

"I've talked to ESPN, the (New York) Times and you," said Boeheim. "That's it. I'm done talking. I've released my statement. The university has released their statement."

Related

»

Syracuse assistant coach Bernie Fine: Allegations are false "in every respect"

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DA William Fitzpatrick promises full investigation of Syracuse basketball coach Bernie Fine

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Audio: Jim Boeheim talks to Gomez & Dave about allegations against Bernie Fine

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Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim defends Bernie Fine, says accuser Bobby Davis is lying

You can contact Bud Poliquin at bpoliquin@syracuse.com