BRENTWOOD, Tenn. -- The Ohio Valley Conference will partner with the Big 12, Conference USA and the Southland Conferences to create a newly-formed consortium to manage its basketball officiating program, as announced today by the four conference commissioners on Thursday.
Curtis Shaw, a veteran men's college basketball referee for more than 20 years, will take over duties as Coordinator of Officials for the consortium. He will be responsible for the recruiting, training, assigning and evaluating of men's basketball officials for each conference within the consortium.
"We are pleased to affiliate with these other conferences for our men's basketball officiating," said Beth DeBauche, Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner. "Having had a nine-year relationship with Curtis as our women's basketball officials' coordinator, we are confident he will do a great job with this endeavor and believe this is a positive development for our league."
Shaw began his tenure as the OVC women's basketball officials' coordinator in 2001-02 and will continue in that role in addition to his new men's basketball officiating duties.
The 49-year-old Shaw retired from officiating after working his
fifth-consecutive NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four in 2010. It was
his seventh Final Four assignment of his career and he had
officiated in at least one NCAA Tournament game since 1993. A
fixture at numerous postseason conference events, Shaw also saw
action in the National Invitation Tournament and the NIT Season
Tip-Off. Shaw worked for 15 different conferences during his
career, officiating more than 1,500 games.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS FROM OTHER CONFERENCE
COMMISSIONERS
Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe
"We were fortunate to be able to hire someone with Curtis Shaw's
expertise when we announced his appointment. He will do a terrific
job in his role as the head of this new consortium."
Conference USA Commissioner Britton
Banowsky
"Regional officiating models are becoming more and more efficient
and we are pleased to get someone with as much experience and
credibility as Curtis to head this new officiating program."
Southland commissioner Tom Burnett
"We are extremely pleased to join three other outstanding
conferences in this new regional officiating consortium for men's
basketball. The consortium model is becoming more common around the
country, and we are pleased to get someone with the experience and
credibility that Curtis Shaw brings to the program."
