Alleged Bernie Fine victims Bobby Davis and Mike Lang have filed a defamation lawsuit against Syracuse University and head coach Jim Boeheim.
Davis and Lang, former Syracuse ball boys who first told ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” that Fine molested them during the 1980s and ’90s, hired renowned lawyer Gloria Allred to represent them in the suit. Allred announced the lawsuit Tuesday at a news conference in New York, and said her clients filed suit in New York State Supreme Court.
Once the duo went public with their claims against Fine, Boeheim’s longtime friend and associate head coach, Boeheim called them “liars” and said they were after money.
“This is alleged to have occurred … what?” ” Boeheim said Nov. 17. “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 false allegations? 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.
“What are people looking for here? I believe they are looking for money. I believe they saw what happened at Penn State and they are using ESPN to get money. That is what I believe.”
Boeheim continued to make similar remarks until a third man, Zachary Tomaselli, later came forward and said Fine had molested him, too.
Boeheim then apologized for his earlier comments.
“Those words came too little, too late,” Allred said Tuesday.
“It really hurt me to learn coach Boeheim had accused me of lying,” Davis added.
The U.S. attorney’s office is now handling the case.
