Bernie Fine Scandal: Jim Boeheim Should Keep Job in Wake of Claims at Syracuse

Bernie Fine lost his job as associate head basketball coach of Syracuse following claims of sexual abuse. While it was smart for the university to act swiftly after the recent Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State, it shouldn't be so quick to let legendary head coach Jim Boeheim go.

The Sandusky charges were brought after an extensive investigation that appeared to point toward a moral failure by several Penn State employees, including head coach Joe Paterno. From the information released about Fine's alleged actions, it was more secluded.

Judging by Boeheim's initial reaction to the claims brought by two men, he was pretty confident his close friend was innocent. He wouldn't have put himself out on a limb if he had known anything about the scandal.

Boeheim, whose been leading Syracuse's basketball program since 1976, backtracked after Fine was relieved from his duties. That will lead to some backlash, but he needed to do it.

The finely-tuned statement should be enough for Boeheim to keep his job, unless further allegations were to arise that implicate him in the mess. As long as he maintains he knows nothing about Fine's off-court issues, there's no reason for a major overhaul within one of college basketball's premier destinations for recruits.

Having spent the past half-century at the school as both a player and coach, he deserves the benefit of a doubt. The public's heightened awareness about sex abuse shouldn't change that.

Boeheim has coached more than 1,100 games and won 74 percent of them. He's brought a National Championship and five Big East tournament titles to Syracuse. That type of prestige doesn't grow on trees. Unless he's directly implicated with Fine's alleged transgressions, it's certainly too much to let go.

Syracuse has done a much better job handling its scandal than Penn State did during the first couple days. It's attempted to be as transparent as possible, releasing its previous investigation about the matter to authorities and keeping the public updated about any progress made, including Fine's firing.

In other words, they've done a nice job of keeping the fire under control. And that should allow Boeheim to remain head coach and the school to maintain its reputation.