Has anyone heard yet if the NCAA has announced its Final Four officiating crews? If anyone can shead some insight, please do

Sorry - NCAA doesn't release game officials until one hour prior to the game, and I don't think that the member of the basketball committee I know would be willing to tell me who they will be.

However, I'm guessing that Tom Rucker will be the R for the National Championship game because (as CBS tells us time and time again) this is his last season. Only time will tell.

Final Four Officials
 

Thanks for the message Mark. You know, I had been thinking about that Tom Rucker might be one the officials this weekend. However, Thanks again for the info.

Ask the airlines what 10 names were put on the tickets sent out by the NCAA.

If you want to know who the 10 will be selected from, go to finalfour.net and check out the officials from the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games - those are the guys who are eligible for a Final Four assignment.

(I copied them into a post here, but accidentally erased the names!)

Here is the list of officials the NCAA will choose from to work the Final Four? With these names, any guesses on crew assignments?
Jim Burr, Scott Thornley, Tom Rucker, Steve Welmer, Ed Hightower, Zelton Steed, David Hall, Leslie Jones, Paul Jannsen, Tony Greene, Bruce Benedict, Tim Higgins, Larry Rose, Pat Driscoll, Mike Kitts, Eddie Corbett, Mike Wood, John Cahill, Terry Moore, John Hughes, Mark Whitehead, Tommy Nunez, Tom Lopes, Richard Cartmell.
Here are my guesses:
Semi-Final #1, or #2
Jim Burr(R)
Steve Welmer(U-1)
Larry Rose(U-2)

Semi-Final #2, or #1
Ed Hightower(R)
Zelton Steed(U-1)
Eddie Corbett(U-2)

NCAA Final:
Tom Rucker(R)
Scott Thornley(U-1)
Tim Higgins(U-2)

And your alternate is?

Ah yes, forgot about the alternate official.
My guess is John Cahill, because I know he has worked a final four in the past. Thanks for the reminder about the alternate Tim.

Is this the same Tommy Nunez that worked in the NBA?

no, this is his son. he also works in the pro system as well(nbdl). nunez sr. is still in the nba. solid play caller - players and coaches really like this guy. he is very highly rated in the pro system as well as nc2a. you can probly catch him on espn during the nbdl play offs. he is a short hispanic guy with big hair.

I believe David Hall, will be one of the Official's. He worked the championship game two years ago, and the final four last year. Jim Burr, Tim Higgins and Ed Hightower will surely be three of the officials.

Next year, maybe TH can set up a bracket for us with the names of the top 65 NCAA officials. We can all make our picks for who will advance to the Final Four. :)

Chuck

I know David and you probably know him too since you are also from Colorado. I think he will get one of the semi games that does not include a Big XII school. The problem I see with him getting a final four game was he was the R when Duke lost. We will see what the NCAA thought about that game.

That might be interesting.

Of course, we wouldn't know who would be eligible for the regionals until the First round games were done, but might still be fun.

BTW, 100 officials are selected for the Opening Round and 1st/2nd Round games.

What happened to Gerald Boudreaux? He's worked something like three out of the last four championship games, and this year he didn't even make it to the third round. I was surprised and disappointed, as I think he's the best in the game. Did he have something go badly wrong in one of his first two games?

Just curious,
jb

Tim, isn't their a Big XII team in each of the semis? :D

Why do you think the Duke game could impact his selection?

Thought I would let everyone know that based NCAA action in the past, Larry Rose who I put down to be one of the officials in Final Four will probably not be there because he worked one of the NIT semis last night. My guess now would be David Hall will get the nod to be at the Final Four.

I don't believe conferences will come into the decision of who will officiate the final four. Jim Burr works in about every conference possible, but that doesn't stop him in being in the final four's.

The rule is that you can't accept any officiating assignments for five days prior to the game - to prevent injury, etc.

That's probably because he works every conference.

However, if you work only the Medium 29, you might feel (subconsciously, probably) pressure to have the Medium 29 team win so that you get better assignments next year.

And totally changing the subject, where is Bill Walton this year, too? I kind of miss that cozy, superior feeling I enjoyed listening to him last year.

When I was at Dave Hall's camp. He mentioned that your first NCAA game would be between a 1 and a 16 seed. If the 16 seed wins, then you probably won't get another game for a couple years. A #1 seed losing to a #5 seed in the 3rd round. Sounds suspicious to me. I hope he does get a game. At the camp, I had the 1 vs 8 game in the first round. I saw him after the game and mentioned that the 1 seed won so I guess, I can stick around and call the next game you have scheduled for me.:-). He like that one. As I mentioned in my article that I wrote, I did get a championship game. But that was another bracket.

Maybe I was wrong but I thought that there was one game without. Shows you how much I have been paying attention.

paul jannsen
 

fellow forum members:

just thought that i would throw a little praise for paul jannsen. he is one of the nicest guys that i have had the oppourtunity to work with. went to a couple of clinics the last year. one was in sioux falls sd.,and the other was in sioux city ia. i really respect him tremendously. paul is the type of guy that we want on the floor. great personality to go along with his size. i will say that he is one of the up and coming refs in the bussiness. i think he deserves to work his first final four. just wanted to praise him a little bit. i definitly dont think scott thornley deserves it. just must thoughts. we will find out soon enough.

mightyvol

Found out from a good source that Richard Cartmell has been selected to do the final four. He has already flown to Atlanta.

Jeepers!
 

Man - is my face red (actually, green on the smilie). I was just watching the NCAA womens semi between UConn and Tennessee and I was sure I knew one of the refs. Since he works college, I wasn't surprised and I was looking forward to speaking to him about his experience.

Then, about 3 minutes into the game, they had a close-up. It wasn't the guy. In fact, it was a woman.

I don't know what that means. Choose one from the following list:

1) the guy I know looks like a woman
2) the woman ref in the game looks like a guy
3) I need new glasses
4) all of the above

:p

Juulie - email me and I'll tell you who I thought it was. You know him, too.

Final Four Officials
 

I believe Dave Hall will pop up on your crystal ball somewhere.

Gerald B...the best in the game?

Did you get it right?
 

John,

How are accurate was your guesses?

I did not see for sure about the first game, but Hightower is working the #2 Semi-Final.

Peace

JRutledge,

I did not well at all for the officiating cre for the first game. The first crew was: (R) Mike Kitts, (U1) David Libbey, & (U2) Duke Edsall. However, I did make a good come back for the second game. Two out of three guesses are working. The second crew was (R) Tim Higgins, (U1) Ed Hightower, (U2) Ed Corbett. As for Monday, I am replacing Higgins for Rucker. My guess for Monday night is: (R) Tom Rucker, (U1) Jim Burr, (U2) Scott Thornley, (Alternate) Richard Cartmell.

I'm gald to see Duke Edsall got a Final Four game. I'm pretty sure it's his first. He's been around a few years now and has endured some personal hardship as well.

Good job, Duke!

Darn! Did I say that? :D

Did anyone see Hightower, while at lead, standing on the court, behind the player on the lower block during a Kansas FT. What was he doing?

No fair! You can't change your guess for alternate - he was already the alternate for tonight's games!! :)

Yes, those were your exact words: "Good job, Edsall!"

I don't have the game taped, and there were no replays, so I'm asking you guys if I saw what I think I saw. The play concerns when Coverdale was called (by Kitt?) for the push on the loose ball right before he was pulled toward the end. Coverdale tossed the ball in frustration, I think at the OU player who stepped right over him while he was still on the ground. The ball either hit or nearly hit the calling official. I don't think the calling official saw the toss, but Duke Edsall did, and it looked for all the world like he was ready to whack Coverdale. Except that he didn't have his whistle in his mouth, and fumbled with it a little bit while trying to run in toward the play. It looked like he decided not to call the T because of the delay in recovering his whistle. Did anybody else notice this? Or am I misreading Edsall's body language/facial expression?

jb

jbduke

I saw this to. It looked like the one official was going to call a T, but couldn't find his wistle in time. I think Coverdale was just frustrated for having a foul called on him, especially when it looked like a great hustle play on both kids.

BktBallRef

I have started to see a lot of officials do this. Actually standing on the court and not the baselien when a freethrow is being attempted. I don't understand this mechanic, since with ref most of the game on the baseline. Does any one else know why official's are standing here?

In reply to what Mr. Hightower was doing during the Kansas FT, I am not sure either, however, I have seen a handful of different officials both mens womens do that. I am not the reasoning, but I have seen it done before.

It has been a women's mechanic for years for the L (2-man or 3-man) to be next to the player on the low block for the first of two or the first two of three free throws. The rationale for this mechanic is multi-faceted. Since a second (or third) free throw is to follow, the players are not supposed to be going after a rebound. Therefore the L does not need to be in a position to watch rebounding, this keeps the L close to the basket, making retrivial of the ball quicker and if there has been some extracurricular activity among players during the game, having the L close by serves a purpose of being a visible presence to the players.

John.
 

It does not appear your guesses were correct. I recognize some of the officials, but the names do not jump out at me.

Peace

FT Mechanic
 

I think the reason the officials do this, is because in NCAA Men's, the players are allowed to stand on top of the block. Unlike us HS officials that has a player a little closer to the baseline, we would be completely blocked off if we stood there. Now I do not know if this is proper, but that is what I think. It makes sense, but maybe they are instructed to do so.

And on the Women's side, they have completely gotten rid of that block position all together this year. It might be considered better to stand where they do.

Any thoughts?

Peace

CBS flashed the names of the officials so fast that I could only read the following names: Jim Burr and Tony Greene.

Re: FT Mechanic
 

Worked two girls' AAU games this weekend, NCAA rules. Repeatedly, the shooter's teammate in the third spot was able to run behind the defender in the second space, gain inside position, and get the rebound. It reminds me of a NASCAR driver drafting on the last lap and passing for the win. It's definitely better to be behind. The offense had even more of an advantage than before. Maybe someone can explain why they did this.

Jim Burr, Tony Greene, and Richard Cartmell

No problems here.
 

All of them did a wonderful job. This was one of the best officated Final Four Championship games I have ever seen. These guys did a very good job.

Peace

Excellent job on a sloppy game.

You got that right.
 

agreed. :)

Agree with all your comments about the officiating crew from last night's championship game. It was one of the best officiated games I had seen as well. Great Job men!!!

I may want to disagree with it being a well called game. I thought a few more fouls were in order especially against Maryland. That said, it did look like the game I would have called and it looked like the level of game I usually call, except the players were taller.