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

Video: Locked On Tar Heels - Will Sayon Keita Start for UNC Basketball? UNC vs. ND Football Preview
A Tar Heel starting 5 shake up as Isaac Schade predicts that freshman Sayon Keita earns the center spot, leaving fans to question how this...
Tue Sep 29, 2026

Audio: 100 Years of Kenan Stadium - Commencement VIPs
You never know who you’ll see at Kenan Stadium. For Chapelboro’s own Kenny Dike, his commencement in the spring of 2001 featured a few special...
Tue Sep 29, 2026

How Neoklis Avdalas Sees Himself Fitting Into UNC's Backcourt
When Neoklis Avdalas arrived at Virginia Tech, he could walk around campus largely unnoticed. That changed once basketball season arrived. There was little anonymity left...
Tue Sep 29, 2026

UNC men's basketball guards figuring out their roles together
Buffalo transfer guard Angelo Brizzi didn’t know what he was looking for in a team, but in joining UNC, he joins an interesting situation. He’s...
Tue Sep 29, 2026