[JRutledge]

I really think it is over played how hard it would for college umpires to make the transition. I think it would be an adjustment, but not something impossible. I really do not think it would be that hard of an adjustment on a baseball diamond. Baseball is not a sport where umpires have to interject themselves in a game very much. It is either a strike or it is a ball. You are either safe or you are out. You are not talking about making a call that can potentially stop the game in most cases. I think if college football officials can handle the jump to the pros, I think college umpires can make the jump as well.

BTW, the question was asked what to other sports do. The NFL does a couple of things. First the NFL used to require officials to work 5 years of D1 ball in order to be eligible for the NFL. Now with NFL Europe and Arena Football (which the NFL owns) they use these leagues to evaluate officials and to also use as another stepping stone to get to the NFL. Also these leagues are going on during the spring so it is additional evaluation these leagues provide. So after an interview process and working games officials can get picked up. Largely the NFL uses D1 college officials, but they have stated that they are trying to recruit officials from all levels and possibly get those officials "in the program." Only time will tell.

The NBA has its own training program. The NBDL is used along with the WNBA and CBA as a training ground for possible candidates. There are also many other Pro-Am leagues across the country that the NBA uses to evaluate officials. You can make the jump from the college ranks, but it is not likely. Since the WNBA is played outside of the regular basketball season, college officials can be used to work the WNBA before making that jump. I believe Violate Palmer was a WNBA Official first before the NBA hired her. There was even a former poster on this site that worked the WNBA and was hired just this season in the NBA. The NBA wants their kind of officials not officials that necessarily work other levels. Any official can go to one of the NBA camps and you can be picked up for their Development program. If you are picked up you will likely be put into one of their many leagues that evaluate officials and if you progress you can work anything from the NBA summer leagues to some Pro-Am league across the country or you might get hired in the CBA and get move up.

I personally see working those two sports as a much harder transition because much of what you have to call as a football and basketball official deals with contact and bodies flying all over the place. As an umpire all you have to do is call pitches and basically follow the ball and the situation on the field. It is a lot easier to umpire a baseball game when you know how many runners you are going to have in any given situation and the action is not constant or will not change at the blink of an eye. I think someone with a great knowledge of the game of baseball can make that adjustment. The main thing you would have to deal with in the transition is some of the mores of the level you are working. If a umpire can do that, they should be fine.

Peace