Bill Kennedy, Matthew Boland, Michael Henderson, Tony Brown, Derrick Collins, Ed Malloy, Courtney Kirkland, Pat Fraher, Ed Malloy, and Jason Phillips all officiated in the WNBA prior to moving to the NBA. If you want to know who maybe next, watch the WNBA Finals. Most, if not all these officials worked the Finals.

Joe DeRosa worked D1 men's, not women's. He only worked college for three years before being picked up by the NBA.

And yes, D1 men's officials defintely receive a higher game fee than D1 women's officials.

Can you give me a rough sense of what the difference is?

thanks a ton for the response!

That might vary based on conference, but the conferences in the Midwest get paid the exact same in each Men's and Women's basketball.

Peace

I thought it was the exact same also, but am no expert on the subject.

It is the exact same. I have had D1 officials use the line, "you get paid the same" as a justification to work Women's college basketball. I know all the JUCO and D3 and two games are paid the same. I realize D1 is a completely different issue, but from the officials I know, they make the exact same in travel and game fee based on where they live and their expenses.

Peace

Gary Zielinski also worked the WNBA before he got his job in the NBA.

Hmmm,
 

The title and jist of this thread is:

Women's Basketball . . .

My question would be:

Who would want to referee games of the high school level if you were good enough to work college basketball?

Tommy Nunez Jr worked WNBA as well.

In some conferences, the fee is the same, in other conferences if isn't. I have a friend that I got into basketball officiating about 15 years ago. He camped his butt off and works some mid-major women's conferences now. He tells me that some of the conferences pay up to 50% more for men's games. That's based on what he makes versus what some friends in the men's program have told him. I have no reason to doubt him.

And yes, BZ and stripes are both correct. Both Nunez Jr. and Zielinski both worked WNBA.

I've heard the same thing.

Re: Hmmm,
 

Unless someone is working a very high level of D1 games, it would be unlikely that most officials would be capable to work only college basketball. Even many D1 officials work high school games and they have to fill out their schedule with D3 and JUCO games to complete their schedule. Also many college games are not played on the same nights as HS basketball games. I guess it could be done, but they would work might be lucky if they worked a 3rd of their entire schedule trying to only work college basketball. In my area there are not as many colleges or games available.

Peace

Re: Hmmm,
 

People who have limitations other than ability. Family or Job requirements have a higher priority for some and may dictate which level of ball they want to work. The higher the level of ball, the more travel and the more time away from your family and job. If were to work college ball, I'd see me kids even less than I do now and I'd probably lose my job.

Are you sure about Bill Kennedy? I know he broke into the NBA as a scab official and stuck. He did work in the CBA. He used to work at a skating rink on Sundays while he was in the CBA.

I thought his name was Benedict Kennedy...

Is it possible that the difference in fee is not b/c of the gender of games, but b/c of the "tiered" pay scale in many D1 conferences?

What I mean is, maybe it's not 50% more for men's games than women's games; maybe it's 50% more for a 5th year official in the conference than for a 1st year official in the conference.