The number of former Indiana men’s basketball players alleging sexual misconduct by a former team doctor is now up to 15.
Attorney Michelle Simpson Tuegel told ESPN that five former Hoosiers are now named in the lawsuit and that 10 more men also plan to pursue legal action against Indiana University.
In March, former Knicks guard Butch Carter was the fifth man to join the lawsuit as he alleged that Dr. Bradford Bomba “put on gloves, lubed his fingers and told Carter to bend over the table” before Bomba then inserted at least one finger into Carter’s rectum.
Bomba worked as a team physician for nearly 30 years under head coach Bobby Knight and head athletic trainer Tim Garl.
Knight died in 2023, while Bomba passed away last month.
Like the allegations Carter has made, the former players accuse Bomba of routinely giving rectal exams during physicals despite medical guidance not making any recommendations for them.
The players allege that Knight and other school officials heard player complaints and knew of Bomba’s alleged actions but did not stop anything.
The players also allege that Knight and Garl continuously ordered players to continue seeing Bomba despite their complaints.
The attorneys for Garl, who is a defendant in the case, argue that complaints are “decades too late” and that Garl did not relevantly supervise Bomba in regard to the alleged misconduct.
Before his death, Bomba was deposed last year and invoked his Fifth Amendment right, refusing to answer 45 questions.
An Indiana-commissioned investigation found last month that Bomba’s rectal examinations were done in a “clinically appropriate manner” and there was “no evidence to suggest that Dr. Bomba achieved sexual gratification.”
The ex-players have disputed those findings, however, as their attorney said two of her clients’ stories contradict Bomba’s actions not being sexual.
One man said Bomba “fondled his genitalia” during a physical and another claimed he was given a rectal exam by Bomba when he was still a minor in high school.
While the lawsuit will face its challenges because of Bomba’s recent death and the state of Indiana’s two-year statute of limitations for bringing sexual assault claims in civil litigation, the former Hoosiers are motivated to share their stories.
“I have two sons who are the same age that I was when that happened to me,” Haris Mujezinovic, one of the plaintiffs from the initial lawsuit, wrote in an email to ESPN. “At the time I viewed myself as an adult, but now I realize, looking at my own kids, how young and powerless me and my teammates actually were.
“The adults within the basketball program who were entrusted with our care knew what was happening to us. They joked about it and let it continue.”
