Former IU men’s basketball players amended their lawsuit against IU on Tuesday, alleging the university systemically mishandled its response to known routine and repeated invasive rectal exams by former team physician Brad Bomba Sr. The amended class action suit alleges current team trainer Tim Garl assigned players to Bomba Sr. knowing Bomba Sr. would sexually assault them, according to a filing obtained by the Indiana Daily Student.
The amendment to the case, filed Tuesday morning, comes more than a month after a judge ruled Bomba is competent to provide a deposition in the lawsuit.
Garl was hired by Indiana as the head men’s basketball trainer in 1981, a position he still holds with the team.
According to the filing, Garl was responsible for assigning each player to either Bomba Sr., or his son, Dr. Bradford Bomba Jr., as IU did not allow the players to choose which physician they saw for their annual physical examinations.
The suit states Garl continued to “condone, facilitate, and approve Dr. Bomba, Sr.’s constitutional violations of the IU men’s basketball players” by still assigning them to Bomba Sr.
When Bomba Sr. invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in a deposition Dec. 4, he also testified that Garl was his supervisor. The suit states Garl had the authority to take corrective action to end Bomba’s sexual assaults.
IU Executive Director of Media Relations Mark Bode said in a statement that IU does not comment on litigation and referred to a statement on IU’s independent review.
In the filing, John Flowers joins fellow former players Haris Mujezinovic and Charlie Miller as plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit. Another former Indiana men’s basketball player, who is anonymous, came forward with sexual abuse allegations against Bomba Sr. on Oct. 15 and retained Michelle Simpson Tuegel of the Simpson Tuegel Law Firm to represent him in a potential civil claim against the university.
Mujezinovic accused Bomba of sexual misconduct in a complaint released publicly by IU on Sept. 11. Mujezinovic and Miller then filed the class action lawsuit against IU on Oct. 15.
Tuesday’s filing alleges Bomba’s assaults were openly discussed by players in the presence of IU employees and that Flowers’ cousin, who also played for Indiana, suffered the same abuse. Flowers’ cousin is not identified in the suit.
Flowers did not suspect Bomba’s examinations constituted sexual misconduct until early 2024 when he discussed the exams with his cousin, according to the filing.
Flowers played for Indiana from 1981-83, more than a decade before Mujezinovic (1995-97) and Miller (1994-98). Before he arrived at Indiana, Flowers was a McDonald’s All-American in 1981.
After Flowers’ first physical with Bomba, his teammates told him he “passed” Bomba’s “test,” according to the suit. Garl also allegedly laughed at Flowers and his freshman teammates, making jokes pertaining to their examinations with Bomba.
After the 1982-83 season, Flowers transferred to University of Nevada, Las Vegas and played there from 1983-86. He was drafted by the Sacramento Kings in the 1986 NBA Draft.
“Unfortunately, the sexual assault Dr. Bomba, Sr. subjected me to was not an isolated incident,” Mujezinovic said in the release. “The reports of additional players—including a new plaintiff in this lawsuit, John Flowers — show Dr. Bomba, Sr.’s systematic, persistent, and intentional abuse spanned decades. It is devastating to realize that this abuse went on in the open for so long without any appropriate action by IU to protect its student athletes.”
In a Herald-Times article from 2016, staff members of the men’s basketball team refuted former IU basketball player Todd Jadlow’s allegations of abuse by former head coach Bob Knight. Jadlow made accusations that Knight grabbed his groin during a game against Syracuse University in 1988 in his book “Jadlow: One The Rebound.”
A letter denying Jadlow’s allegations, obtained by The Herald-Times in October 2016, was signed by team orthopedic surgeon Dr. Steve Ahlfield, team physician Dr. Larry Rink, Bomba Sr. and Garl.
"We never witnessed the grabbing of players genitals or the closed fist punch in the head of a player by Bob Knight as Jadlow accuses," the letter said. "Additionally, no player ever reported to us seeing or being subjected to such actions."
The letter admits that none of the staffers who signed the letter read Jadlow’s book and instead were provided excerpts of Ladlow’s accusations against Knight.
"He (Knight) always followed our medical recommendations and never interfered with our medical decisions,” the letter said. “He never said no to any of our recommendations. We maintained an open door policy and all basketball players had access to at least one of us 24 hours/day, 365 days/year. No player came to us concerned about physical abuse by any of the coaches or Bob Knight while we worked with him at Indiana University.”
The lawsuit states Mujezinovic, Miller and Flowers demand a trial by jury. They are also seeking judgement in favor of “awarding them appropriate monetary relief, including actual damages, compensatory damages, and emotional distress damages.”
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Mujezinovic Et Al. v. IU - 69 - First Amended Complaint[1] by jamesdm on Scribd
IU Class Action - Press Release Filing of First Amended Complaint 1.14.2025[79] Copy by jamesdm on Scribd