UPDATED: Nov, 18, 2011. 2:24 a.m.

More than 2,350 miles away, Bernie Fine has a supporter. Eric Devendorf, the former Syracuse guard who is in Boise, Idaho, with the Stampede of the NBA Development League, firmly believes the allegations are untrue.

He refuses to believe that Fine, an associate head coach with the SU men’s basketball team, molested young boys.

‘I think it’s a lie,’ Devendorf said. ‘ … I’ve been to his house numerous times. I’m good friends with his son and his family. Bernie is a great person, and I was always able to come back and talk to him. He did a lot of things for me off the court besides basketball, so it’s not even in his character to even do something like that. It seems like a lie to me, the whole thing seems real fishy.’

Like many others, Devendorf was shocked when he heard the news and discussed the event with friends and family back in Syracuse. He questioned why Bobby Davis, a former ball boy for the Orange in the 1980s, would come out nearly 30 years after the alleged molestations after an investigation was already completed in 2005. He also found it ‘fishy’ that the only other person to come forward and claim to be molested was Michael Lang, a stepbrother of Davis.

‘First of all, they’re related, so they’re obviously trying to stick up for each other,’ Devendorf said. ‘It just seems like the guy is trying to get attention. Bernie has never been accused of anything like that, no one has ever seen it.’

And that, according to Devendorf, is the big difference between this situation and the sex abuse scandal at Penn State. Jerry Sandusky, a former defensive coordinator for the Nittany Lions, was seen allegedly raping a 10-year-old boy in the team’s shower facility by then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary.

But that never happened to Fine. No one ever witnessed the alleged molestations. Not even Boeheim, Devendorf said.

‘The Penn State thing is a whole different issue,’ Devendorf said. ‘(Sandusky) was seen doing stuff to kids, and Bernie hasn’t ever been seen or anything like that. So it’s just a whole bunch of nonsense to me.

‘Coach Boeheim has been around Bernie longer than everybody. I’m sure if something like this took place, he would have been notified of it or something like that. And he hasn’t seen anything. Coach Boeheim has Bernie’s back, and I do too. Bernie’s a great person, and he’s been great to me and my family.’

Devendorf said that he was probably closest with Fine of all the players on the team during his time at Syracuse. He said Fine helped him both on and off the court, and continues to do so to this day.

 

This past summer, Devendorf was in Syracuse with his family and working out in preparation for the D-League. He said he ate dinner at Fine’s house multiple times over the summer, even bringing his daughter over to visit.

Devendorf said he thinks Fine was getting closer to retirement anyway, perhaps within the next few years. Now, though, his reputation as one of the most widely respected assistant coaches will have an asterisk attached to it, according to Devendorf.

‘It’s definitely going to put a tarnish on him either way it goes, because with something like that, it’s pretty serious allegations,’ he said. ‘It really sucks that somebody would come out and say something like that, because it’s definitely not a good thing to have over your head.

‘It just seems like a whole bunch of nonsense to me, and I definitely support coach.’

mjcohe02@syr.edu

Published on November 17, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Michael: mjcohe02@syr.edu | @Michael_Cohen13