NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — A judge has issued an arrest warrant for a prominent New York City basketball coach accused of sexually assaulting a player on a visit to western Massachusetts three decades ago.

The Daily Hampshire Gazette reports that Judge Bertha Josephson issued the warrant on Tuesday after Ernest Lorch failed to show up for a scheduled arraignment in Hampshire Superior Court on charges of indecent assault and battery and attempted rape.

Prosecutors say they received a letter from Lorch’s New York-based attorney indicating that Lorch planned to fight extradition to Massachusetts.

Lorch, who is in his late 70s, is accused of abusing a 17-year-old player during a trip to a tournament at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst in 1977 or 1978. The alleged victim came forward earlier this year.