DETROIT, MI (AP) -- Former Syracuse basketball star and current Detroit Mayor Dave Bing said Wednesday his friend Bernie Fine told him allegations of child molestation were untrue.
Bing told The Associated Press that he called the former longtime Syracuse assistant basketball coach earlier this month after two former Syracuse ballboys accused him of molesting them.
"I called Bernie, and he said `absolutely not,"' when asked about the claims, Bing said. "He thought it would blow over and said there was no truth to it, and I accepted that."
Three men have accused Fine of molesting them as children. He has denied the allegations. The university fired him Sunday after a third accuser went public and ESPN broadcast a 2002 audiotape, obtained and recorded by accuser Bobby Davis, of a conversation between Davis and a woman ESPN identified as Fine's wife, Laurie, in which she says she knew "everything that went on."
"I don't know the truth," Bing said. "My position is let this thing play and see where the truth is. If it's true, you feel bad for the young kids involved in this."
Bing said he shares a "strong friendship" with Fine and Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim. Bing said he and Boeheim have tried to reach each other by phone since the scandal broke but have yet to speak.
Boeheim and Bing were roommates in 1962 at Syracuse and guards on the basketball team. Bing and Fine met at Syracuse in 1963, when Fine was student manager of the basketball team.
Bing was the Detroit Pistons' No. 2 overall pick in 1966. He spent a dozen years in the NBA - nine in Detroit and was elected in 1990 to professional basketball's Hall of Fame. He is in his first term as Detroit mayor.
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