Jim Boeheim Apologizes for Vehement Defense of Disgraced Bernie Fine

Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim made a deep apology for his strong defense of former assistant Bernie Fine on Friday night, finally realizing his initial comments regarding the allegations of child molestation against Fine were out of bounds.

Here is some of what Boeheim said to the media after his team beat Florida on Friday, via CBS Sports:

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I shouldn’t have questioned what the accusers expressed or their motives. I am really sorry that I did that and I regret any harm that I caused. It was insensitive to the individuals involved, and especially to the overall issue of child abuse.

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He later said:

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What I said last week was out of loyalty. I reacted without thinking. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I’m trying to learn from my mistake, and this has been a hard time. That’s all I can say. There’s an investigation going on that I fully support, because we all need to know, as much as we can, what happened.

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After many people were were calling for Boeheim to resign because of his comments regarding the victims—stating the accusers were lying simply for money—it was clear that he needed to apologize for those remarks.

Boeheim clearly reacted too quickly in the defense of his friend, without pausing and realizing the severity of the allegations and everything involved.

To Boeheim's credit, it's good to see he has addressed his behavior and the comments that negatively affected many people.

His presser on Friday was an emotional one, and for a coach who is well liked in the college basketball world, it's not hard to believe he is genuinely sorry. He made a mistake, he realized he was wrong, and he has apologized. 

At a press conference last week Boeheim told reporters, "I haven't worried about my job in 36 years." Friday night's press conference was further evidence Boeheim is still the right man for Syracuse basketball, and that a change up top is clearly unnecessary at the time.