UConn forward Niels Giffey faked a shot, drawing Louisville’s Wayne Blackshear into the air. As Blackshear came down, landing on Giffey’s shoulder, the shot was released. It was wild. No whistle. The ball went out of bounds. Louisville possession.
UConn head coach Kevin Ollie exploded. He raced towards referee Mike Stuart who rewarded Ollie with a quick technical foul. Three seconds later, Ollie was given his second technical foul, triggering an automatic ejection from the game. Said UConn’s star guard Shabazz Napier, “[Ollie] responded in a way that a lot of people would’ve responded. They gave him two quick ones instead of just one and telling him to calm down. But…it was a foul.”
It was the most recent, and a particularly egregious example, of a problem that has plagued college basketball for a generation. Referees have continuously seized more control of the action on the court, while maintaining immunity from the consequences of their game-altering calls. After running Ollie from the game last Saturday, referee Stuart wouldn’t comment on the blown call that incited Ollie. He offered only a questionable explanation for the technical fouls, and only to ESPN’s Andy Katz after the local press pool was told Stuart would not be made available for comment.
Being a referee is not a glamorous profession. Your absolute best day on the court should result in no one remembering you were there at all. And NCAA officials live a more modest existence than most. Unlike officials from the major professional sports, NCAA refs are non-union independent contractors. That means they are employed directly by the NCAA with no negotiating power and no leverage to gain a larger chunk of the NCAA’s massive yearly revenue.
The same characteristics that define NCAA referees also serve to explain their performance issues on the court. Because of their independent contractor status, many referees work other professions to supplement their officiating income and to obtain benefits like health insurance and retirement options not provided by the NCAA. It also has lead to a much older crop of referees than one would expect. It’s very difficult for younger men and women to break into the refereeing elite while the veteran guys need to work continuously to make a living. On the court, that has manifested itself in whistles often blowing in anticipation of action instead of in reaction to it. It seems almost cruel to ask middle-aged men to run the court and react at the same speed as the world-class athletes they are policing. The most-used referees also officiate many more games per season than a college hoops team would play.
Recently, much has been made of the NCAA’s newly-instituted hand-check rules. The idea: calling more fouls will lead to more free throws in the near term, boosting point totals. In the long term, it will condition players to get out of each other’s way, boosting open shots and, you guessed it, more points. But all of this depends on proper enforcement of the new rules by a refereeing corp who is overworked, untrained and struggling to keep up with the realities of the sport.
Inconsistency at best — and incompetence at worst — has become a hallmark of the modern NCAA referee. Fans are more vocal than ever, and are bolstered by the immediate fact-check of high definition instant replay. It’s a common occurrence to see players complain. And even the ones who don’t are aware of the issues wrought by poor officiating.
“It’s basketball. Throughout the whole season it’s kind of up and down. They inserted the new rules — the hand checks — but certain days they call it, certain days they don’t,” said Napier. “They might as well just go back to old school basketball where if you ain’t bleeding, you ain’t getting fouled. I’d prefer that. Because I wouldn’t want to expect anything. I wouldn’t want to get any cheap fouls. I understand they’re trying to get some points on the board, but it’s not equal. One day it’s good. One day it’s bad. You’ve just got to deal with it.”
While Napier’s idea of limiting foul calls would make the game more predictable for players, it’s both unlikely and falls short of solving the underlying problems. Some have suggested improving the pay and benefits of all NCAA referees, allowing them to focus solely on officiating while avoiding the inevitable burn-out of constant travel and work. The NCAA could provide additional training for their referees, possibly doubling as an aptitude test.
The other missing aspect is accountability. Recently, the NBA has begun acknowledging blown calls in games. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been an outspoken critic of NBA officiating and has had some success in bringing about transparency. Cuban’s end-game — an open and public listing of all missed calls — is almost certainly a non-starter, but the principles behind honest, and public, performance evaluations would add credibility to all levels of officiating.
Any reform in the college ranks is unlikely, however. By hiring referees as independent contractors, the NCAA is saving an incredible amount of money. There are 30 NBA teams. There are 351 Division 1 college basketball teams. The cost of offering all referees benefits and a reasonable salary would be amazingly expensive.
There is also not enough pressure from the universities or the public to force a change. In 2012, the NFL and the union representing their referees failed to reach a contract renewal and the league locked out their officials, hiring replacements to handle the whistles in the pre-season and indefinitely thereafter. As the regular season began, the performance of the replacement referees was so poor that it spawned a massive public uproar. By the fourth week of the season, the NFL relented, agreeing to the demand of their locked-out officials. It was a public relations disaster for the league, and a look at how drastic a situation needs to get before change is implemented by a profit-driven sports league.
Without the leverage of a labor negotiation, it’s hard to fathom what a similar situation would look like in college basketball. What would happen if every referee refused to show up one day? Could they even afford to? While fans see referees as an inconvenience, there’s hardly a storm brewing that would qualify as public outcry. Would that change with a blown call that determined a tournament game? It’s impossible to know. Yet, without some catalyst event that forces the NCAA’s hand, expect inconsistent refereeing to be a steady presence in college basketball.
