A former assistant coach from Syracuse’s 1986-87 Final Four team said he was shocked to hear of the allegations that SU associate head coach Bernie Fine molested two ball boys.

Barry Copeland, who worked as a volunteer assistant coach for two seasons before becoming a assistant coach for the 1986-87 and 1987-88 teams, said he was shocked at the news that former ball boy Bobby Davis accused Fine of sexually molesting him for several years beginning in 1984, according to an article published by ESPN. When The Daily Orange contacted Copeland, it was the first he heard of the news.

‘It’s a shock to me, quite frankly,’ Copeland said. ‘The fact you’re even saying that this is happening, it’s been on the news, there was nothing that I could comment on as far as I saw or anything that would lead me to believe that was going on.’

Copeland said he remembers Davis and the other ball boys coming on some road trips with the team. He also said they were at practice all the time and at the home games.

Copeland said he talks to Fine maybe once a year and called him a close friend. Fine was placed on administrative leave by Syracuse University on Thursday night, Kevin Quinn, senior vice president for public affairs, said in a statement.

The former assistant coach was mainly in shock as he digested the news. But he said he could not think back to any situations that would make him believe the details in the allegations were happening.

‘Man, I’m a little blown away by it,’ he said. ‘I haven’t heard, this is the first I heard of it, and man. There’s nothing that I can think of that would lead you to believe this was going on.

‘ … This is something, it’s a total surprise to me.’

mcooperj@syr.edu

Published on November 17, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Mark: mcooperj@syr.edu | @mark_cooperjr