INDIANAPOLIS---The NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Committees and the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) announced that eight individuals have been named to serve as regional officiating advisors to monitor and evaluate officials to ensure proper application of the points of emphasis as defined by the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Rules Committees.

Named women’s regional officiating advisors are Vicki Davis, Steve Goodman, Diane Plas and Judy Stroud. Men’s advisors are Bill Belknap, Edgar Cartotto, Tynes Hildebrand and Jim Huetter.

"The Collegiate Commissioners Association and the NCAA have been working collaboratively to improve basketball officiating,” said Patty Viverito, senior associate commissioner of the Missouri Valley Conference. “The regional officiating advisors program is a significant investment and is representative of our joint commitment to enhance the national officiating program and to improve the quality and consistency of officiating throughout the country.” The new regional officiating advisors will serve in a consultative capacity to the national coordinators of officiating in connection with the selection, assignment and advancement of game officials during the NCAA Division I Basketball Championships as well as other officiating matters. The regional advisors’ other duties include attending the fall coordinators meeting and regional rules clinics, assisting with the officiating web site, contributing to the creation of professional development programs for officials and conference coordinators.

 “The opportunity for the CCA and NCAA to partner in addressing the universal objective of improving and enhancing officiating at all levels is a great development for the game of college basketball,” said Jon LeCrone, commissioner of the Horizon League. “This effort will cast a wide net around the country, and our student-athletes will benefit as a result.”

Davis is currently an observer of officials for the Big 10 Conference and the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). She has had past experience as an official at the NCAA Division I, II and III levels and at the high school level from 1968 to 2002. Davis was head girls basketball coach at Hastings (Minnesota) High School from 1971 to 1979. She is a past president of the Minnesota State Coaches Association.

Goodman has served as both a Division I women’s and men’s official while covering games in the Big Sky, Pacific-10, Big 12 and Southwest Conferences. He has been an observer of men’s and women’s basketball officials for the Pacific-10, California Collegiate Association and for the WNBA. During the summer, Goodman supervises developmental camps for officials where he trains, recruits and evaluates officials at both the collegiate and high school levels.

Plas has been a women’s official at the NCAA Division I, II and III levels and was also a volleyball official in the Big 10 and Mid-American Conferences. She has been an assignor and supervisor of officials for numerous NCAA Division III, NAIA and NJCAA conferences. Plas has coordinated annual rules clinics for all levels of basketball officials in the Ohio area, while also coordinating volleyball officials in the Horizon League and Mid-American Conference.

Stroud has been an NCAA Division I women’s official for the Atlantic Coast, Big South and Southern Conferences from 1989 to 2006, officiating games in the NCAA Tournament as well. She worked as a WNBA official from 1997 to 2001, and is a former head women’s basketball coach at Western Carolina from 1981 to 1985.

“The regional officiating advisors program is an initiative which we strongly believe will enhance the national officiating program by putting in place a national team to aid in observation and evaluation for officials, provide assistance for conference coordinators and assist Mary Struckhoff, national coordinator of women’s basketball officiating,” said Joni Comstock, chair of the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee and director of athletics at American University. “We see this program as a means to address questions regarding consistency on a national basis and believe these individuals will provide an invaluable service to the identification of up and coming officials.”

A former director of athletics at Wichita State University from 1993 to 1999, Belknap has many years of administrative experience.  He was commissioner of the Southland Conference from 1991 to 1993. From 1988 to 1991 he was director of development and assistant to the president at the University of Idaho. At Idaho, Belknap also served as director of athletics from 1978 to 1988.

A former official for numerous NCAA Division I conferences, Cartotto is currently coordinator of basketball officials for the Northeast Conference. He is a past chairman of the CCA Manual Committee from 2001 to 2005. For the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials (IAABO) organization he has served as chairman of the Visualization and Education Committee and as a member of the Rules Examination Committee.

Hildebrand is a former head men’s basketball (1965-1980) and director of athletics (1983-1996) at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La. Since 1997 he has been a monitor, observer and evaluator of basketball officials in multiple conferences, while also conducting officiating clinics throughout the south.

Huetter is a former NCAA Division I and NBA official. A supervisor of men’s officials for the NJCAA since 1986, he has also been an observer of officials for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference since 2002. He has coordinated officiating for the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference since 2003.

"The opportunity to enhance the communication and coordination of men’s college basketball officiating is certainly a benefit for everyone involved,” said Craig Littlepage, chair of the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee and director of athletics at the University of Virginia. “We’re excited to see this stage of effort put into place.”