The Fiery and Fickle Relationship Between College Basketball Coaches and Refs

Posted Mar 7, 2019
“Dean Smith said to me after he was retired, ‘John, that night we played Clemson, you called that block/charge and that was the wrong call,'’’ says John Clougherty, a referee for 30 years who later spent 11 years as the ACC’s director of officiating. Smith was referencing a game from the 1980s. “And I’m thinking, I’ve had 15,000 block/charges. But he remembers that.” (Sports Illustrated)

Related: Basketball, Basketball Recruiting

Michael Malone on Sayon Keita's 'Unlimited Potential' for UNC Basketball
"When you look at our frontcourt, and you look at Sayon Keita, I think he just has unlimited potential," Michael Malone said last week at...
Tue Sep 8, 2026

Video: Locked On Tar Heels - Michael Malone Implementing Gritty UNC Defense
UNC Basketball enters a new era as Coach Michael Malone unveils a gritty, defense-first identity. Will this tougher philosophy end the Tar Heels' infamous "wine...
Tue Sep 8, 2026

Jarin Stevenson's Versatility Critical For New-Look Tar Heels
Chapel Hill native Jarin Stevenson enter his senior season with no Caleb Wilson or Henri Veesaar, a new coach, and a fresh group of teammates...
Mon Sep 7, 2026

Big expectations: Inside Michael Malone’s retooling of UNC’s frontcourt
The centerpiece of UNC Basketball's rebuild is Sayon Keita, a 7-foot-1, 205-pound prospect Michael Malone scouted personally in Huelva, Spain, shortly after taking the job...
Sun Sep 6, 2026