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Note 1: I am not an official, worked the table at the game in question. Only reason I notice the official joking with the fans is because he was turned away from the court.
Note 2: This was a fan for the visiting team and the home venue administrators were attempting to remove him already. Giving the home team coach a T seems like a stretch.
I realize the easiest thing is to always have a paid police officer present, but our district hasn't had anyone ejected in at least 6 years (probably longer), and no fights or other issues in over a decade (at least). It's a tough pill to swallow if they have to foot the bill for that every game just in case some official in the future decides to have a thin skin and then ignore the situation. Most schools have "security" that can't touch anyone (except in protection of their safety or others), so having an actual officer would be the only way to get this individual to leave. Because the referee in question made no other demonstration than to walk to the table and ask for the game manager to remove the fan, most of the other fans in the stands assumed it was the home school administration asking him to leave, not the official. Some even started threatening those personnel (which the police subsequently did take care of once they arrived)
Note, the official requesting the ejection wouldn't even tell the game manager why, just said "He needs to go, now."
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