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While Caitlin Clark and Kim Mulkey are making headlines, it was a little-known ref that stole the show in the NCAA Women’s Tournament on Saturday.
The NCAA announced it was forced to remove referee Tommi Paris at halftime of a first-round game between North Carolina State and Tennessee-Chattanooga due to an undisclosed conflict of interest.
As it turns out, Paris holds a Masters degree from UT-Chattanooga. But the NCAA was unaware of this fact.
Development after @PackWomensBball v. @GoMocsWBK — they switched official Tommi Paris out at half. A statement from @MarchMadnessWBB says Paris was taken out due to a “background conflict.”
Per a quick Google, Paris got an MA from Chattanooga. @TheNextHoops pic.twitter.com/EeQCUasygv
— Gabriella Lewis (she/her) (@_gabriellalewis) March 23, 2024
“There was a switch of game officials at halftime of the Chattanooga-NC State first-round game because it was learned after the game had started that Umpire 2 Tommi Paris had a background conflict that, if known, would prevent her from working the assigned game,” the NCAA said in a statement. “The decision was made to move Angelica Suffren, who had worked the first game of the session, into the Umpire 2 position because it provided the most on-court experience and allowed the game to maintain a full officiating crew, plus standby.”
The third-seeded Wolfpack rolled past the 14th-seeded Mocs, 64-45, even despite the conflict of interest. Though they led just 26-17 at the half, at which point Paris was removed.
NCAA Tournament Ref Who Was Removed At Have Had Impressive DI Career
It is not known whether Paris intentionally failed to inform the NCAA of the conflict. And it remains to be seen whether she will be awarded any future games in the tournament.
Paris actually played four years of Division I basketball at Furman from 2002-2006. She averaged 10.2 points per game over her career.
According to her professional biography, Paris “has spent the past 10 years refereeing NCAA Division I women’s college basketball, which has allowed her to stay connected to the game she’s always loved and to practice conflict resolution and manage competitive tension, which she considers to be one of her super powers.”