NCAA News Archive - 2010

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    Four leagues create men’s basketball officiating consortium

    May 13, 2010 8:39:24 AM

    By Michelle Brutlag Hosick
    The NCAA News

     

    The Big 12, Ohio Valley and Southland Conferences and Conference USA are creating a men's basketball officiating consortium designed to help manage the officiating program.

    The consortium hired longtime NCAA official Curtis Shaw, who retired from officiating after working his fifth consecutive Division I Men's Basketball Championship in 2010, to serve as coordinator of officials for the four leagues.

    Shaw will oversee a program that will identify a pool of available and suitable officials. He also will be responsible for training them consistently and developing young officials.

    Southland Conference Commissioner Tom Burnett said the participating conferences are dedicated to following the directives of NCAA Coordinator of Men's Basketball Officials John Adams, along with developing a close relationship with regional coordinators.

    "It's been a common discussion among Division I commissioners over the years," Burnett said. "We want to minimize the different ways the game has been called and how the rules have been interpreted over time. We want to continue to develop officials and make them better."

    Part of that development will be an evaluation process that holds all officials accountable.

    The consortium concept is not new, and several conferences belong to similar partnerships in other sports, including the Women's Basketball Officiating Consortium, a partnership among the Big Ten, Mid-Continent and Great Lakes Valley Conferences; the Horizon League; and Conference USA. Burnett said he believes the concept will grow in popularity.

    The newest consortium made sense geographically. The Southland was previously aligned with the Big 12 because of the geographic similarities, and Conference USA and the Ohio Valley also share similarities.

    "This is something that we all strongly believe in," Burnett said. "The four conferences have a working relationship and feel that what we've done in the past has been beneficial and sets the foundation for what we're doing moving forward."