DENVER – Randy McCall, a men’s basketball official who began his Division I officiating career in the Western Athletic Conference, will be presented with the 2014 Naismith Men’s College Official of the Year award at a ceremony this weekend in conjunction with the NCAA Regional Officiating Clinic in Phoenix, Ariz.
“Randy is the epitome of first class,” WAC Commissioner Jeff Hurd said. “He is the perfect example of a person working up the ranks to become the very best at what he does. His work on and off the court is exemplary.”
The award is presented annually to the men’s official whose extraordinary effort has made contributions of outstanding significance and have created a long-lasting positive impact in college basketball.
It is presented to individuals “who display character, integrity and dignity, and have contributed mightily to the growth, success and viability of college basketball.”
To be eligible, an individual must have been involved with the sport as a game official for a minimum of 20 years, worked the NCAA Tournament as a game official and worked conference tournaments as a game official.
“My first Division I game was in the WAC and the WAC has always been my home,” McCall said. “I’m awfully proud of that.”
McCall began his officiating career in 1980 while attending the University of Northern Colorado. He began officiating in the Colorado Athletic Conference and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, both NCAA Division II conferences, in 1988.
In 1992, McCall was hired by both the WAC and the Big West Conference and began a Division I officiating career that has included work in those two conferences, along with the Mountain West, the Missouri Valley, the Pacific-12 and the Big 12. His first Division I NCAA Tournament assignment came in 2001.
In 2004, McCall officiated his first NCAA Regional and has worked an NCAA Regional every year since. He has been assigned to the NCAA Final Four four times – in 2004 (national championship game), 2005, 2010 and 2013.
McCall spent his professional career in interscholastic athletics as a teacher, coach and administrator. In 12 years of coaching, he was part of seven state championship teams.
In 1997, McCall was named the Director of Athletics at Cherry Creek High School in Englewood, Colo., a position he held until his retirement in 2011. During his tenure as athletic director at Cherry Creek, the athletics programs earned 67 state championships.