The NCAA men's and women's national coordinators of basketball officials and NCAA national office staff members will meet this spring with selected game officials and conference supervisors of officials to review the NCAA's new officials' background-check program.

Beginning this season, game officials had to agree to a background check to be eligible to officiate in the NCAA Division I Men's or Women's Basketball Championships. Background checks are being performed on 50 officials in both men's and women's basketball. Their names were drawn randomly from among those who officiated in the 1999 championships and signed a release form agreeing to this year's checks.

Bill Saum, NCAA director of agent and gambling activities, said that only one factor would automatically prevent an individual from receiving an assignment to officiate an NCAA tournament game -- a conviction for sports bookmaking, sports bribery or sports wagering.

"We know that officials have questions about this program," Saum said. "We believe that the meeting this spring will provide an excellent forum in which to discuss those questions further."

Saum said that improved communication will be a major focus of the meeting.

"We want to listen and share ideas about how better to communicate with officials about this issue," he said. "We plan to clarify further the legal issues involved with this program, review the release form the officials must sign and get their ideas about how to convey accurate information about this program among their fellow officials. Most of all, we want to make clear that we are willing to listen."

The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee recommended the background checks last year, and the Division I Management Council approved the program last summer. C.M. Newton, chair of the men's basketball committee at that time, is one of the staunch supporters of background checks.

"We must protect the integrity of the contests," he said. "We hold coaches and student-athletes to a very high standard. We must do the same with our officials since they, too, are an integral part of this great game."

Newton said the idea of background checks on officials -- and others -- is not new.

"The Southeastern Conference began doing background checks on officials back in the 1980s," he said. "And more and more we understand that colleges and universities are doing them on prospective coaches."

The NCAA will distribute information about the spring meeting to all conference commissioners in the next few weeks.