Indiana
Doctor accused of abusing Indiana University athletes repeatedly invokes Fifth Amendment in deposition
The former Indiana University basketball team doctor accused of sexually assaulting players back in the 1990s invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination dozens of times during a recent deposition when he was asked whether he performed rectal examinations on young athletes, according to the transcript of his testimony.
Dr. Bradford Bomba Sr., who testified on Dec. 4 via video, also twice invoked his Fifth Amendment right when asked if then-coach Bob Knight told him to do “digital rectal exams on his players.” However, he did answer several questions about his general scope of duties and time working for the university.
Bomba, 88, had been ordered to submit to a deposition by U.S. Magistrate Judge Mario Garcia, who is presiding over a federal lawsuit filed in October by two former players, Haris Mujezinovic and Charlie Miller, against the university’s trustees. Neither Knight, who died last year at age 83, nor Bomba are listed as defendants.
They claim Bomba repeatedly sexually assaulted them and their teammates under the guise of doing physical examinations and that the school was aware this was happening but did nothing to stop him.
Bomba first invoked the Fifth Amendment when he declined, through his lawyer, to answer whether he ever performed a physical exam on a player “anywhere other than on campus.”
The now-retired doctor also declined to answer a question about whether he ever reported the “abuse of a student athlete to anyone,” and another question asking if he knew what Title IX is.
Mujezinovic and Miller are suing the IU trustees under Title IX, a federal law that requires all universities that receive federal funds to put safeguards in place to protect students from sexual predators.
Bomba did testify at the deposition that IU provided him with a questionnaire that needed to be completed and that he documented the procedures he did on those forms, which were then returned to the university. He also agreed, under questioning, that he and Knight had been “close friends.”
Kathleen Delaney, who represents Mujezinovic and Miller, said in the lawsuit that there could be “at least one hundred” alleged victims. She had no immediate comment Friday on the deposition, which Bomba’s guardians had unsuccessfully attempted to delay by claiming he was not competent to testify.
“I’m pleased that the Court required Dr. Bomba, Sr. to testify,” Mujezinovic, who watched the deposition by video, said in a statement first reported by The Herald Times. “He did not even try to justify what he did to me and others under the guise of ‘medical care.’ Watching him testify was a difficult experience for me, but an important step in the pursuit of justice.”
“This is important evidence confirming that the University knew what was going on and did nothing to protect us from what I now understand was sexual abuse,” Miller said in his statement. He too watched the deposition by video.
Indiana University is represented by the Indianapolis-based Barnes & Thornburg law firm and three of the firm’s lawyers were monitoring the deposition but, according to the transcript obtained by NBC News, did not pose any questions.
Also watching the deposition was IU’s “in-house counsel” Anthony Prather, the transcript showed.
Indiana University hired Bomba to provide medical care to all of its sports teams from 1962 to 1970, and from 1979 until the late 1990s he was the basketball team’s doctor, according to the lawsuit.
Mujezinovic and Miller said in the lawsuit that they “were routinely and repeatedly subjected to medically unnecessary, invasive, and abusive digital rectal examinations” by Bomba.
Bomba had played football for Indiana University and was nicknamed “Frankenstein” by coaches and players “due to the large size of his hands and fingers,” the lawsuit added.
“Dr. Bomba, Sr.’s routine sexual assaults were openly discussed by the Hoosier men’s basketball players in the locker room in the presence of IU employees, including assistant coaches, athletic trainers, and other Hoosier men’s basketball staff,” according to the lawsuit.
Mujezinovic, who spent two seasons at Indiana from 1995 to 1997, and Miller, who played for the Hoosiers from 1994 through 1998, are seeking unspecified damages. They have also urged former teammates to come forward and join their lawsuit.
Indiana
Slim chances for a white Christmas in Lafayette area and in Indiana
Are Christmas cards going extinct?
Fewer Christmas cards are being sent these days — a 2024 poll found 6 in 10 adults received fewer, and 3 in 10 planned to skip sending them altogether. Gen Z may be moving away from the tradition, but many still keep cards as sentimental keepsakes.
LAFAYETTE, IN — Hopes for a white Christmas are fading quickly in Indiana.
“I know earlier in the month we were thinking we might have a higher chance of a white Christmas,” National Weather Service meteorologist Cody Moore said, “but unfortunately, I have some bad news for you. A lot of long-range guidance has been consistent showing a pattern on Christmas Day featuring much warmer than normal temperatures for the region and the chance for some rainfall.
“It does look like we’ll be above average, temperatures at least in the 40s, maybe 50s,” Moore said on Wednesday, just three days after subzero temperatures pummeled the area.
With still eight days until Christmas, the forecasts closer to Dec. 25 might bump the expected high temps up even into the 60s, Moore said.
Normal temperatures this time of year for Lafayette are 36 for a high and 22 for a low.
“It looks like you might be able to keep your heavy winter jackets in the closet for now,” Moore said.
How will a Christmas with temperatures in the 40s, 50s or even 60s compare to Christmases past?
In 1982, Lafayette’s record-warm Christmas was 64 degrees. Its record cold temperature was 12 below zero in 2000.
So now that the dreams of a white Christmas appear dashed, what about January or February?
The Climate Prediction Center published a three-month forecast in November, and an update is expected in the next couple of days.
But last month, center’s forecast for January, February and March was for Hoosiers to have an equal chance of above and/or below average temperatures.
“We’ll see how that translates with the storm track,” Moore said.
The Climate Prediction Center forecasts warmer than normal temperatures in the southern United States and below normal temperatures in the Northern Plains.
“That puts the storm track right through Indiana, which makes sense because the Climate Prediction Center has Indiana as a bullseye for a pattern favoring above-normal precipitation,” Moore said. Temperatures will decide whether that precipitation falls as rain or snow — or ice or freezing rain.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
Indiana
Freshmen from Indiana show potential in UConn-Butler game: ‘Heck of a player’
Former UConn forward, NBC Sports broadcaster Donny Marshall knows a thing or two about talented UConn guards.
The former Husky played for legendary coach Jim Calhoun and was teammates with the fifth pick in the 1996 NBA Draft, 10-time NBA All-Star Ray Allen. Watching UConn play against Butler on Tuesday night, Marshall said he sees a lot of Allen in reigning Indiana Mr. Basketball Braylon Mullins.
Mullins made the second start of his career against the Bulldogs. The former Greenfield-Central star missed UConn’s first six games of the regular season with an injury, but the 6-foot-6 guard is quickly coming into his own and showing why he’s a projected lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Against Butler, Mullins showed off his sweet jump shot, going 2 for 5 from 3-point range. He finished with 12 points, three rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal.
“He’s a scorer,” Butler coach Thad Matta said of Mullins. “He’s got a scorer’s mentality. He gets his shot off quick. They move him around and create some angles for him. Obviously, he’s a heck of a player.”
Mullins did most of his damage in the first half, scoring eight of his 12 points before halftime. The former five-star recruit was the highest-ranked player in UConn’s 2025 class. Butler’s top-ranked recruit, Azavier “Stink” Robinson isn’t the NBA prospect Mullins is, but he held his own after a shaky start to the game.
Robinson has been thrust into the starting lineup with starter Jalen Jackson out for the season with an ankle injury. Robinson looked out of sorts at times in the first half, going scoreless with two assists and a turnover. In the second half, Matta moved him off the ball, giving him catch-and-shoot looks, and opportunities to drive to the basket without worrying about running the offense.
The former Lawrence North star responded with one of the better halves of his career, scoring 10 points on 3 for 6 shooting, including 2 for 5 from 3 to go along with two rebounds, one assist, one steal and one turnover.
Facing a veteran team like UConn, nothing comes easy. UConn’s guards harass ball handlers and getting into an offensive set is not easy. This time last year, Robinson was still in high school and, on most nights, the most athletic player on the court. Playing a UConn team where the goal is a national championship, Robinson was forced to grow, and he did not back down from the challenge in the second half.
“He’s coming along,” Matta said of Robinson. “That’s the first Big East road game of his career against maybe the best team in the country. It tells you how tough he is. He’s resilient. He keeps going.”
Indiana
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