The former Syracuse man said he called because he had seen an ESPN report about coaches accused of sexually abusing young athletes across the country.

A coach — Syracuse University associate head basketball coach Bernie Fine — had sexually abused him as a child, Davis told a Post-Standard reporter. He said he wasn’t sure what he wanted the newspaper to do with that information.

I told Davis that the newspaper would not print allegations like that without identifying the accuser. Under those terms, was he willing to reveal in a newspaper story a secret that he said he’d been hiding for about 17 years, even from his mother?

Davis wasn’t sure.

About 11 hours later, in a second phone call, Davis said he was willing to be named in the paper as Fine’s accuser. He was willing to answer on the record every question asked of him, no matter how embarrassing.

But before Davis was asked a single question about his allegations against Fine, he was warned that the newspaper would thoroughly investigate his background before it turned its attention to Fine. Davis was asked to provide his date of birth, Social Security number, names of his close relatives and names of people in Syracuse who knew him well and could speak to his honesty. He did that.

Did he have any skeletons in his closet? Had he ever been arrested? He said no.

During three lengthy phone interviews in September and October 2002, Davis didn’t refuse to answer a single question.