Tomegun
 

You have some great post on here and know alot of basketball. What level do you currently work, high school or college? What part of the country are you located in, someone said you are from Vegas, how is the ball where you are now compared to Vegas?

I work high school and college; one pays more, but I love basketball!

Las Vegas is my adopted home, but I currently live in the Washington DC metro area (Maryland). Basketball in Vegas - on the West Coast IMO - is watered down compared to the East Coast. An example would be the Easter Classic. Las Vegas put a lot of teams in the tournament, but only one of them (that I saw in the 17-under division) could compete with teams from out of town. Now, take that one competitive "all-star" team from Vegas and they wouldn't win very many high school leagues in this area.

Another example would be the email I just got this morning. An AAU team from here, the DC Assault, just beat a team with the #1 and #2 players in the country (OJ Mayo and Bill Walker) on it. The leading scorer was a kid that plays on DeMatha and is going to Georgetown; he didn't get to the game until 6 minutes left in the first half and finished with 30 points.

A final example; a lot of people know about Oak Hill's legendary basketball program. All 5 starters from this past season's 40-1 squad are from the Washington DC area.

Hey, you are from Ohio; where exactly? I'm originally from Richmond, Indiana which is right on the boarder.

I couldn't agree more with you. Now if we could only get some of the people out here who think that they are so big time to understand this...

You aren't the Tom Raper of Tom Raper's RVs are you? :);)

I wish! Everybody who has driven on I-70 knows Tom Raper.

I live right on the Illinois/Indiana border, basically an hour from Terre Haute. So I see a lot of the Tom Raper ads on the local TV stations.

I would have to change my name.

To Mary...?

Vegas
 

I am from the Toledo area but was on the west coast for some time and know some refs from Cali. and Vegas. What is the deal with the Vegas officials, I was told very, very few refs even make it do Division 1 out of Vegas and that is hard to imagine with I think around 2 million people living out there. I heard that there are maybe 2 or 3 D1 refs from that area and I was wondering why so few. Maybe you can give some insight to that since you are from that area. I know that UNLV is in that area and they are right next to California and with all the basketball that goes through there the refs must have alot of exposure. I was reading in an article that Vegas is top 3 in the country that puts on high level tournaments and has NBA summer league is out there. What is the deal with the limited number of refs working D1 from Vegas?

While tomegun would know better than I, especially for the southern part of the state, but it is my opinion that the lack of colleges in the immediate area is the main reason. There are only two D1 schools in the entire state (Nevada in Reno and UNLV in Vegas) and they are about 450 miles apart. There is not a single D2 or D3 school. Additionally, I don't believe that there is a JC which fields a team in Vegas, I know that there is not one in Reno. There does seem to be a community college that plays though. The closest up here are some CA JCs that are about 80 miles away and that league does NOT pay travel for the officials. So with the gas prices, you end up working the game for free or actually losing money.

The rural geographic layout of the population in this state creates an isolation which makes travel a major roadblock for officials. There simply are not the necessary schools around to provide the training ground for moving up the ranks to a D1 spot. The Vegas guys and gals have to break in over in southern Cal.

There certainly are quality officials here, as there are currently about 4 Vegas based refs in the PAC10, but the difficulties that are encountered in making it to the college level are significant. For example, many D2 assignors from the Sacramento area are uneasy about hiring Reno area refs and assigning them to games because these people must travel over the Sierra mountain range in the middle of the winter in order to work those games. This is an area which is noted for big snow storms and they just aren't comfortable with all the missed assignments and delays that the travel conditions cause. Afterall Reno/Tahoe hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics and we have all heard of the Donner party!

Compare that situation to the DC area which has multiple schools in and a big population in a rather compact geographical area, decent winter weather, and a wealth of small and mid-major conferences.

Anyway, that is my theory.

Nevada's theory is pretty accurate. There are 5 D1 men's officials and 3 D1 women's officials in Vegas.

Is Riel Banaria A D1 Ref--he Is From Vegas--i Saw Him Officiates
In Global Hoops Last Year,he's A Good Referee.

Yes, Riel is in the PAC-10. He is one of my good friends.

thanks TOM for the info---i've been there in vegas attended the IPABOA
camp and officiated in the tourney--hoping to meet you soon!!

---I'm a filipino ref like Riel.

When I was in Vegas a couple weeks ago Riel said he was putting a team in the tournament. He also has a league in Vegas too. I know a lot of the local guys in that league.