More than a dozen former Indiana men’s basketball players are accusing the team’s former physician of sexual misconduct and allege former coach Bob Knight was among multiple school officials who were aware of it and allowed it to continue.
Two former players sued the school in the fall in a lawsuit that names five former athletes, and 10 more men’s basketball players are exploring lawsuits against the school, their attorney Michelle Simpson Tuegel tells Front Office Sports.
The nature of the allegations and the figures involved drew comparisons to the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal involving Michigan State women’s gymnastics and the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal at Penn State. Both cases ended in multimillion-dollar payouts to the victims.
“My ten clients and numerous other players from the 1970s to the 1990s were subjected to completely unnecessary penetrative exams and other forms of sexual misconduct by team physician Brad Bomba Sr. for his own sexual gratification,” Simpson said in a statement to FOS. “Since these men bravely began to come forward last fall, Indiana University has repeatedly tried to avoid responsibility, falsely asserting that what happened to them doesn’t constitute abuse. That should be decided by an Indiana jury rather than the University and its hand-picked private law firm. My team and I will do everything in our power to ensure these survivors have their day in court.”
An Indiana spokesperson declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
Dr. Bradford Bomba, the physician at the center of the accusations, died in May at 89, which affects the players legal options. Knight died in 2023. On May 1, Indiana released an independent investigation that cleared Bomba of wrongdoing. Bomba was initially deposed in 2024, but refused to answer 45 questions, instead invoking his 5th Amendment rights. Before his passing, a judge ruled Bomba wasn’t capable of being further deposed.
The current lawsuit is represented by Kathleen DeLaney. In that lawsuit, players allege Bomba, who was the team’s physician for roughly 30 years until the late 90s, routinely gave male athletes rectal exams during physicals despite them not being deemed necessary for that demographic. DeLaney tells Front Office Sports that she plans to use Bomba’s testimony in which he invoked the Fifth Amendment to have the jury “draw adverse inferences” from his refusal to answer.
The lawsuit states that Bomba’s behavior represented sexual misconduct and that Knight and longtime athletic trainer Tim Garl knew about it, but didn’t intervene. A judge recently denied an order to stay discovery filed by the defendants, giving the plaintiffs permission to continue to do so. Garl will be deposed on July 24, DeLaney told Front Office Sports.
Players allege they complained about Bomba’s exams and asked to see a different doctor, but were told to keep seeing Bomba by Knight and Garl. Garl, who is named as a defendant in the case, was IU’s longtime trainer from 1981 to 2025 and ran the Hoosiers legendary manager program. IU recently announced it would not renew Garl’s contract for a 45th season.
