Washington, D.C. notebook: Sitdown with a ref

More notebooks: Atlanta | Oakland | Washington, D.C. | Minneapolis

PHILADELPHIA – NCAA basketball referee Donnee Gray has seen and heard it all.

Gray, 53, has worked four Final Fours, dozens of NCAA tournament games and countless regular-season contests in 28 years of officiating all over the country and in conferences large and small.

Along the way, he has earned the respect of coaches, players and other officials as a true professional who gets (most) calls right and tells it like it is.

In an interview Saturday after working the Villanova-Monmouth game the day before, Gray told Yahoo! Sports what it's like to be the guy on the court who everyone loves to hate.

Gray welcomed the interrogation. He takes immense pride in his work, reviews game film for hours on end and calls referees the "gatekeepers of the game."

"There's no doubt in my mind that we are the most honest people on the court," said Gray, who lives in the Washington, D.C. area and referees mostly Big Ten and the Big 12 games.

Gray did have conditions for sitting for the Q&A. He made us promise that he could publicly thank his wife Vedia for "supporting me to no end." He also wanted to thank his longtime mentor Tommy Scott, "one of the best officials in the country and a terrific man," and last but not least, his full-time employer, the United States Senate, for whom Gray is a validation clerk.

And with that, we're off.

How many games do you work in a season?

"I keep the number of games to 70 or 80. I don't try to be out there every night. I just know my body and my mentality."

What is the hardest thing about being a referee in the NCAA tournament?

"There are many factors. There's mental preparation, physical preparation and making sure all three officials are on the same page and following the same guidelines and points of emphasis."

What are points of emphasis?

"Points of emphasis are reminders. The points of emphasis this season are cutting back on rough post play, watching out for palming or carrying the ball and allowing the cutters to cut without being held. It's just one of those things where we have to be more consistent. You can't do it 80 percent of the game or 90 percent. You have to be consistent league to league and game to game."

Fans, coaches, players; everyone gets mad at the referee. How often do you think you guys get the calls right?

"It is a fact that we get 95 to 97 percent of the calls right. We know that by studying film. If you want to work and stay at this level, then you have to be that good. It's that simple.

"We look at as much film as possible. I go to three to five camps in the summer to give back to the game, and in doing so I am watching referees. If you want to be good, if you want to be the best, if you want the coaches to respect you, then you have to do that."

There's a perception out there that the big-name programs – and Duke gets brought up all the time in this regard – get favorable calls. Is there any truth to this theory?

"There is absolutely no validity to the perception that big programs get the calls. If an official misses a call, he's human. The perception that sometimes big schools get the calls is absolutely not the case.

"I referee so that when people see film of the game, they go, 'He got that call right.' You referee for the film because the film doesn't lie.

"I can say a couple things about officials. Officials are the most honest people I've ever run into on the court. If they miss a call, it's because they either don't know the rule or might not have been in a position to see the play.

"Officials do not lean toward big schools, big coaches, big players, name players or anyone else. Why should we be in awe of anybody?"

Then why do people keep bringing it up?

"Let me tell you a story. Years ago, I was doing an NCAA tournament game in Minnesota between Louisville and Illinois. Pervis Ellison was a senior and on TV Billy Packer mentioned that this was a Final Four level game. Well, Illinois is double- and triple-teaming Pervis Ellison all game, really giving him a hard time. Pervis got the ball and took three steps. I called a walk and the Louisville fans went absolutely bonkers, screaming everything at me like I'm an official who doesn't know the game.

"My point is that even when we're right, the perception is that we're wrong. And even when fans know we're right, they don't care."

What do you do if you blow a call and you know it?

"If I miss a call, I will tell a coach, 'I'm sorry, I missed it.' The only problem with that is you can't miss too many."

Has the game become more difficult to call as players have gotten bigger, faster and stronger?

"Players are bigger and faster, and all that means is that we have to get the film and study and we have to be in the right position to make a call."

So you study game film of teams to prepare for them? How does studying film help you get ready for a game?

"One year I had Florida State and UNC and coach (Dean) Smith was still coaching. Florida State had Charlie Ward and Sam Cassell and Bobby Sura. UNC played a motion offense designed to score inside. When Florida State had the ball, we had to make sure we stayed with their shooters from start to finish. That doesn't mean you can't monitor inside play, but that's the kind of thing you learn by studying film."

During a game, it often looks like coaches are really "working on" referees. Can you give us some insight as to what is being said and if it's true that coaches "work" the officials?

"Good coaches respect good officiating. When you communicate, it's not always a fighting match. During a game, coaches have to realize that 'Donnee Gray is eight feet from the play and I am 80 feet from the play.'

"There are emotions in basketball from referees, players, coaches and fans. The first thing an official should do is listen. A guy might be screaming and all he might be saying is 'The clock's not running.' You listen first and if you do that, the conversation might be extremely quick.

"And it's not always what you think when you see it on TV. Sometimes coaches are yelling at their players and fans think they're yelling at us. We're there and we can see he's screaming at the kids."

And what if the coach is screaming at you?

"Then I walk over and tell him, 'I'm not going to scream at you, and you're not going to scream at me.'

"Years ago, I had Stanford playing a team from the East Coast, and the fouls are nine against the team from the East and two against Stanford. I made a foul call against Stanford and the Stanford coach (Mike Montgomery at the time), throws his hands in the air and gets mad, and he's screaming. I said, 'Coach, please put your hands down and listen to me, I've listened to you.'

"I said, 'If you raise your arms above your waist line one more time, it's a technical foul.' He stopped and looked at me, and said, 'What did you say?'

"I said, 'Coach, if you have a question about something being called out here, you don't need to make a show of it. But if you try to embarrass me, we are going to have a problem. So if you raise your hands above your waist line again, it will be a technical.'

"Could I have hit him with a tech early in that game? Yes. But I said, 'Let me see if I can handle this a different way,' and it worked out.

"I got him a year later in the NIT against Princeton. Montgomery came over to me and said, 'I'm not going to raise my hands above my waist line.' And he smiled."

CALHOUN AND SMITH, OPPONENTS AT LAST

Today's match-up between Kentucky and Connecticut brings together Tubby Smith and Jim Calhoun, two stewards of high profile, high pressure programs. Calhoun and Smith are good friends, having worked together at Nike camps and other coaching events although their teams have never played each other.

Smith said he and Calhoun have often discussed the similarities of UConn and Kentucky in that they operate in a fishbowl of attention in regions of the country where their programs are the No. 1 focus of fans and media without a close second.

"It's amazing that we haven't played in all these years," Smith said. "It's a great opportunity and a tremendous challenge for us to match wits against one of the best."

Said Calhoun, "We've never played Kentucky and I've found that to be kind of unique. I think Tubby was as shocked by that as I was because we see each other all the time. He's one of my favorite people. I know why he's so tough. He's one of 12 or 13 children (he's actually one of 17) and you have to be tough just to get some food."

At 22-12, Smith's Wildcats have had an up and down year, but enter Sunday's game with a chance for the kind of "statement win" that might change the way the die-hards in Lexington view the season.

"(The tournament) is a culmination of all the things you've taught and learned because you have seniors that have been a part of so many wins over the last three-plus years; we want to celebrate their success by playing well in postseason play," Smith said, adding, "Jobs are given based on how you finish the year, so postseason play is very critical in this day and time."

DONE DUO

The Fighting Illini's loss to Washington marked the end for seniors Dee Brown and James Augustine, who were key parts of the squad last year that went all the way to the championship game. For Coach Bruce Weber, it will be a tough loss.

"I hugged and cried with them," Weber said after the 67-64 loss to Washington. "I hope that they'll do great things since they both want to be in the NBA."

Brown, who missed a three-pointer that would have sent the game into overtime, reflected on his relationship with Augustine.

"We are still going to be friends and brothers, which will last forever. But knowing that I won't get to play with James again, it hurts."

Brown finished with 15 points and five of 18 from the floor. He also had six assists. Augustine scored 18, and pulled down nine rebounds.

NELSON HAS NO REGRETS

As his college playing career winds down, UConn senior forward Ed Nelson said "no regrets" when he thinks about his status as a role player on Connecticut as opposed to a star somewhere else.

Nelson transferred to Connecticut from Georgia Tech in the summer of 2003 and was the 2001-2002 ACC Rookie of the Year after averaging 8.5 points and 7 rebounds. At Connecticut, he's averaged only about 10 minutes and 3 points per game in a back-up role.

"I'm on the No. 1 team in the nation," Nelson said after the team's workout Saturday. "It's hard to explain, it's just a great experience. We have a chance to win the national championship so there's no way I regret coming here."

Nelson hopes to play professionally in Europe after he finishes up at Connecticut. He loves the college game but also acknowledged that it's hard not to notice that it's a business at times, what with constant travel, national television games, and hordes of fans.

"You know it's a business when you leave your hotel and there's 50 people looking for autographs," he said.

Michael Arkush contributed to this notebook.