The Other Bill

Having reffed both sports at a very high level, I can tell you that the atmosphere in basketball and dealing with coaches is very different. It’s all game long, a constant back and forth, and there is a mutual understanding between basketball refs and coaches. It’s part of what makes reffing it so much fun. I’m happy that Roger Ayers (who always referees games at a Final Four level) handled the end of the game the way that he did. This was not a confrontational situation. Uconn hit a buzzer beater a few seconds before the viral moment between Ayers and Hurley. Ayers is telling Hurley that the game isn’t over yet (there was a clock adjustment from 0.02 to 0.04 - which is notable for catch and shoot). Hurley isn’t physically contacting him, he’s just between Ayers and the scorer’s table. I’ve been in some wild environments/end of game scenarios both in basketball and football. They feel surreal and you are in a state of shock to an extent. This is how great officials handle these situations, so kudos to Roger Ayers and congrats to UConn.

Ayers was left off the Final Four lost quite literally for not doing his job on the biggest stage…

Panthers score just 8 SECONDS IN after a miscommunication by the Senators 😭🚨

Just talked to the NCAA media office. Asked if referee Roger Ayers was not included in the group of officals for the Final Four/Title game in any way due to the thing with Dan Hurley at the end of the game. "This had no bearing on the selection of the Final Four officials."