Binghamton University began to recede into the background of the story in early June, when former basketball recruit Miladin Kovacevic fled the country, simultaneously igniting an international incident.

Now, at the start of the fall semester, the University community finds itself in mainly a spectator’s role: Kovacevic’s potential extradition from Serbia is in the hands of diplomats, and Bryan Steinhauer’s health in the hands of doctors downstate. The saga is no longer at the forefront of the community’s consciousness as it was over the summer. But for many, the pain has not faded.

Steinhauer’s parents, Richard and Marlene, declined to comment to Pipe Dream, but said at a July 24 press conference in New York City that their son had begun to come out of his coma and recognize friends and family. About a week later, they described their own pain to CNN.

“I’ll tell you the truth — I wake every morning and I’m still crying,” Marlene Steinhauer told CNN reporter Jason Carroll. “Things were going so good for him.”

“When he sees us, he starts yelling out and crying out with a tortured look on his face,” Richard Steinhauer said. “He’s starting to realize what has happened to him.”

The University itself feels its reputation hasn’t been tarnished because of the attack, despite BU’s recruitment of Kovacevic to its Division I men’s basketball team and the international press the University has received because of the incident.

“This was a very unfortunate, isolated event and should not be taken as a reflection of the University, its athletic program or our student body,” said University spokeswoman Gail Glover in a statement. “Our thoughts and hopes are with Bryan, his family and friends.”

Glover pointed out that the University suffered no drop off in applications this year, with 30,305, a 4.5 percent increase from last year. That may not be an accurate indicator, though, at least not this year — the fight occurred more than a month after the University’s latest admissions deadline.

Still, some incoming freshmen and their families echoed the University’s sentiments.

“I considered it an isolated event and I had already made up my mind as to the safety of the area and the school,” said Jack Glasheen of New Jersey, father of freshman Julian Glasheen. “It was just one of those real unfortunate, random events.”

Marinda Souva, assistant director of Campus Life, headed the orientation program over the weekend as freshmen moved in, and felt that if the attack was on students’ minds, it was lost in the shuffle.

“The new students haven’t asked anything about it,” she said. “From my perspective, obviously as a staff member I’m concerned about our students’ safety.”

Officials from the City of Binghamton hope that prospective visitors will focus on what the area has to offer, rather than the recent publicity the incident has earned.

“The incident that we’re talking about is tragic and unfortunate and hopefully won’t have lasting repercussions,” said Andrew Block, director of community relations for Mayor Matt Ryan’s office. “All communities can face challenges sometimes. Binghamton has an established reputation, and that reputation has been further strengthened by the University’s location here in the Susquehanna with a variety of opportunities.”

Block said his office urges those who stay out late to practice responsible behavior, and that the City is always available for questions or concerns about safety.

Peripherally, Kovacevic’s alleged actions may have most affected the majority of his former peers, the student-athletes. Bearcat athletes are involved in disciplinary matters far less frequently than non-athletes and a large emphasis is placed on educating the former about off-the-field conduct.

Now, some student-athletes worry that the fight, which involved a member of BU’s most high-profile team, may have — in disagreement with the University’s statement — set back the program’s reputation and restricted their own freedoms.

Athletes spoke to Pipe Dream on the condition of anonymity.

“It looks bad on the athletic program; it’s kind of a shame because of all the hard work people put into it,” one Bearcat said. “For somebody to drop to that level and take an action like that, it puts a mark on your whole athletic program. We definitely deserve to look better.”

“Internally there’s going to be a lot of lasting effects,” another athlete said. “Coaches are probably going to now instill some rules, just a way to track us if we’re in the Downtown area. Just reflecting back on the [America East] Conference, that’s not a good thing. It’s definitely going to backlash on other teams.”

BU’s director of athletics Joel Thirer said no changes were made to department policy in relation to the fight. Individual coaches make their own rules on top of the guidelines set forth in the student-athlete handbook, which all teams must follow.

— Ashley Tarr contributed reporting to this article.

— Information from The Associated Press and the Press & Sun-Bulletin was used in this report.