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Former IU basketball player says doctor did inappropriate exams

Former IU athlete accuses team doctor of misconduct

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — Indiana University has hired a law firm to look into allegations from a men’s basketball player about a physician who worked with athletic teams.

The law firm of Jones Day will look the conduct of Dr. Brad Bomba Sr., who did annual physicals of IU student-athletes. Bomba graduated from IU in 1957 and gained multiple honors at a Hoosiers football player. He is the former head team physician for the IU men’s basketball team.

IU says in a statement that the student-athlete, who was not named, “competed at IU several decades ago.” A letter from the student-athlete’s legal counsel alerted the university to the allegations.

The university’s statement says the former student-athlete alleged he was subjected to inappropriate prostate and rectal exams during annual physicals from Bomba, which were a standard practice for all basketball student-athletes’ physical exams.

In the statement, the university says it hopes to learn if Bomba’s conduct was “appropriate, necessary, or within the standard of care.”

IU also hopes to learn whether other medical professionals, university officials, and athletic department members were “aware of the conduct and, if warranted, what action did they take.”

The Indiana Football Hall of Fame, which inducted Bomba in June 2007, noted he was the IU team physician for the 1967 Rose Bowl team; a chairman of the Committee on Sports Medicine for the Indiana State Medical Association; a team physician for the 1984 USA Olympic Basketball team; a former team physician at Bloomington South High School.

IU has named Bomba to its Athletics Hall of Fame and awarded him the Zora G. Clevenger Award for 50 years service to IU, the Indiana Football Hall of Fame also says on its website.

The Cleveland, Ohio-based law firm set up a phone and email for people to provide information, which can be done anonymously if desired: 888-392-2296 andIUinvestigation@JonesDay.com.