Getting picked up very young

[Robert E. Harrison]

Michael Nance, Larry Nance's little brother. I worked JV games with him for one year and he went to camp and was picked up the next year. He moved to Atlanta and the rest is history. He is a very good D1 official. Brian Forte, Joe Forte's son is another one that went through our association very briefly and has been in the NBA for 5 or 6 years. Both of them knew what they wanted to do and went for it.

[Kansas Ref]

Originally Posted by Robert E. Harrison

Michael Nance, Larry Nance's little brother. I worked JV games with him for one year and he went to camp and was picked up the next year. He moved to Atlanta and the rest is history. He is a very good D1 official. Brian Forte, Joe Forte's son is another one that went through our association very briefly and has been in the NBA for 5 or 6 years. Both of them knew what they wanted to do and went for it.

*Which again lends credence to my intial point: Officiating has become so "standardized" that one can enter the reffing vocation at their desired level of competition and eventually become a satisfactory ref without wasting away your prime health years in hopes of moving up via the traditional ranks--when it may not pan out. Now please bear in mind that not every official wants to 'move up'. I know some guys/women who are content with just doing recreational leagues--making an extra $100 on the wknd, others who want to do college, and yet others who want to remain at the nfhs level. We are not assigning any "value-statement" to the choices one is free to make, but rather emphasizing the available options for in our vocation.