Coaches Behavior

[SC Official]

People see the NBA guys whining on every call then spouting off in the media about how they're "done" with the officials, and then they think they get to start acting up.

I've whacked more coaches this year than I have in quite a few seasons. Part of that is because I've stopped worrying about all the baggage that comes with a technical foul at the HS level and I just penalize the behavior. I'm not letting coaches coach me and I make that very clear to them. If they choose not to comply, they can suffer the consequences. All of my T's except one (where the coach ran on the court yelling and gesturing) were preceded by the official warning–the coaches didn't believe I had the guts to follow through, and they learned the hard way. All of my T's made my games better and quieter, even though some partners didn't necessarily care for them or tried to pin the blame on me by saying I need to be more "approachable." My response is normally along the lines of "you need to stop putting up with unsporting behavior that needs to be penalized."

I've long believed that not enough T's are called at the high school level and that behavior would get better if officials (and assigners) would stop stigmatizing them with an "avoid at all costs" mentality. One unique thing about South Carolina is that all varsity assignments come from the state office, so I don't have to answer to an assigner when I whack a coach (thankfully, no reports here for a single T). Not that that would necessarily change my trigger, but it is nice knowing I'm unlikely to get a phone call.

Ejections at the HS level are rare from what I can see. In SC it's a $300 fine and a 1-game suspension for a coach to get dumped, and the coaches are well aware of this. Of course, so are the officials who in some cases refuse to eject a coach because they'd "feel bad" if he had to pay $300 and sit out a game.