Hollywood Higgins leaving the court

[DSMCy]

It's not explicitly called out in the release, but rumors on twitter are that this new gig will mean John Higgins will no longer officiate games.

Final Four veteran John Higgins tabbed as new coordinator of Western Basketball Officiating Consortium

John Higgins has been named the new Coordinator of Officials for the Western Basketball Officiating Consortium.

themw.com

 

[JM4CY]

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

Anybody checked in on @brentblum?

 

[jcisuclones]

College basketball officiating just got far worse. Higgins is one of the best to ever do it. Anyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot who doesn't know ball.

 

[CoachHines3]

College basketball officiating just got far worse. Higgins is one of the best to ever do it. Anyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot who doesn't know ball.

Yeah- I don't understand the hate towards him.

He's a phenomenal official

 

[dtISU]

I used to officiate high school and small college ball. Higgins makes it look easy.

 

[enisthemenace]

Best part about Higgins is he seems to be immune to hostile home courts. He doesn’t get intimidated into making calls.

 

[BCClone]

He has stopped trying to be a part of the game like he did 20 years ago. No more of the whistle blow, wait two seconds and the massive crow hopping to signal a charge. I think many people still hang that image on him.

 

[ClonerJams]

He has stopped trying to be a part of the game like he did 20 years ago. No more of the whistle blow, wait two seconds and the massive crow hopping to signal a charge. I think many people still hang that image on him.

He still enjoyed his monitor time, though.

 

[Gunnerclone]

College basketball officiating just got far worse. Higgins is one of the best to ever do it. Anyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot who doesn't know ball.

If he’s in charge of recruiting new officials then hopefully it’s an opportunity for one of the best to have a bigger thumbprint in the national officiating crisis.

 

[CoachHines3]

Best part about Higgins is he seems to be immune to hostile home courts. He doesn’t get intimidated into making calls.

Part of why he's so good.

 

[Pat]

College basketball officiating just got far worse. Higgins is one of the best to ever do it. Anyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot who doesn't know ball.

He’s also 61/62. I’m no expert, but thought he missed a bit more than usual the last few years. May be unrelated, but perhaps he’s also good enough to know he’s not as good as he once was. I can definitely think of worse choices for the job.

 

[CycloneRulzzz]

Best hair in the business. Never forget the game at ISU where he took a ball to the face.

 

[CloniesForLife]

I always felt much better when he officiated our games. This is a bummer

 

[jcisuclones]

I've actually seen John tailgating around Jack Trice before football games. He has a ton of respect for or department and Jamie, I know that. No way he would show up to do that at other schools.

 

[1UNI2ISU]

He’s also 61/62. I’m no expert, but thought he missed a bit more than usual the last few years. May be unrelated, but perhaps he’s also good enough to know he’s not as good as he once was. I can definitely think of worse choices for the job.

He needs new knees. I think there have been times in the last couple years where he couldn't always physically get to the spot or get to the right position and that led to some inconsistency and he had been so good for so long that even the little errors stuck out.

This is a massive loss for college officiating. He's one of the best to ever do it and there was nobody better in a big game situation. Great communicator with coaches and players and just a great game manager and caller. Luckily he was a pretty generous mentor so guys like Kipp Kissinger (who is already elite), Brooks Wells and Chance Moore have a chance to approach his level.

I would also think that West Coast officiating improves fairly rapidly with him in charge and the fact that Pac12/MWC consortium does do some sharing with the Big 12/MVC consortium means some positive impact here.

 

[ISUChippewa]

He needs new knees. I think there have been times in the last couple years where he couldn't always physically get to the spot or get to the right position and that led to some inconsistency and he had been so good for so long that even the little errors stuck out.

This is a massive loss for college officiating. He's one of the best to ever do it and there was nobody better in a big game situation. Great communicator with coaches and players and just a great game manager and caller. Luckily he was a pretty generous mentor so guys like Kipp Kissinger (who is already elite), Brooks Wells and Chance Moore have a chance to approach his level.

I would also think that West Coast officiating improves fairly rapidly with him in charge and the fact that Pac12/MWC consortium does do some sharing with the Big 12/MVC consortium means some positive impact here.

This would explain a lot for me personally and put him in a better light; I've remarked a few times over the past few seasons that I've subjectively thought he was one of the more overrated officials out there, as there seemed to always be at least one call (or non-call) per game that always stood out to me as being really bad. Which does not mean that he was always the official that was directly responsible for those bad calls/no calls, nor that he was not a good official in itself (one can be good but still overrated).

That being written I think this is a good role for him going forward into his eventual retirement, and will allow him to serve as a mentor for the next generation of officials, which is a profession that is sorely in need of some new blood.

 

[NATEizKING]

Iowa coach Fran McCaffery, right, is ejected from the NCAA college basketball game by official John Higgins during the second half against Northern Iowa, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Northern Iowa won 80-60. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

 

[qwerty]

View attachment 113163
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery, right, is ejected from the NCAA college basketball game by official John Higgins during the second half against Northern Iowa, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Northern Iowa won 80-60. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

This alone would get him free beer at my tailgate . . . .

 

[Farnsworth]

This is kinda sad, gonna miss that dude.

Hopefully he recruits some good ones.