Bernie Fine: Syracuse Is Making All the Right Moves in Response to Allegations

With the sporting world still reeling from the Penn State Scandal, similar charges are now being leveled on the Syracuse basketball program.

ESPN's Mark Schwarz and Arty Berko detail two different charges that are being leveled against Bernie Fine, who is a long-standing assistant coach for the Orangemen basketball program. 

As a result of these charges, Fine has been placed on administrative leave, which is the same fate that Penn State Mike McQueary is presently experiencing. 

Unlike Penn State, these charges are being disputed by the people at the university. Head coach Jim Boeheim had this to say in the report cited above:

"

We spoke to the people (Davis) asked the university to talk to. Not one person would corroborate his story.

Why wouldn't he come to the police (first this time)? Why would he go to ESPN? 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. You want to put that on the air? Put that on the air.

"

Now, I am not going to pass judgment on this story and the charges. Obviously, these charges are quite serious and some action needed to be taken.

Does Fine need to be fired? Well, obviously, if these charges are true, then being fired is the least of his worries. 

But for now, there's really no problem putting him on leave. Honestly, I would have said the same thing about Sandusky at Penn State if he was still a coach at Penn State. 

But that story had far more detailed witnesses, as you can read in the Grand Jury testimony linked above.

This is certainly not saying that the allegations against Fine are or aren't true. Time will tell if that's the case.

Realistically, Fine couldn't stay on the sideline with these charges pending. This is a matter that needs to be cleared before he's ever back on the sideline. But for right now, Fine being placed on leave works well. The university is doing everything in its power that can realistically be done. 

While they would certainly be within their rights to do so, firing Fine is not necessary now.