Dee Kantner

Dee Kantner (born May 3, 1960) is a women's basketball referee for the National Collegiate Athletic Association since 1984. Kantner started with the Southern Conference before appearing in the Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference throughout the 1990s. With the NCAA, Kantner has refereed for various Final Four and championship games since 1992.

Dee Kantner
Born (1960-05-03) May 3, 1960
Reading, Pennsylvania
OccupationNCAA referee

Outside of the NCAA, Kantner was one of the first women referees in the National Basketball Association when she started in 1997. She remained with the NBA as a referee until 2002. Kantner has also held the positions of Director of Referee Development and Supervisor of Officials for the Women's National Basketball Association during the 2000s. At individual events, Kantner was a referee at the National Sports Festival in 1991 and the 2000 Summer Olympics. Kantner was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.

Early life and education

Kantner was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, on May 3, 1960, and had three siblings. Growing up, Kantner's parents had a marital separation.[1] During her childhood, Kantner took up track and field and basketball.[2] For her post-secondary career, Kantner received an athletic scholarship from the University of Pittsburgh and was on multiple sport teams.[3] She graduated with an engineer's degree in 1982.[4]

Career

While at the University of Pittsburgh in 1982, Kantner became a referee at basketball games for churches.[5][6] Following her post-secondary education, Kantner started her engineering career as a pipe stress analysis consultant. She continued her engineering experience in the sales department for Westinghouse Electric Corporation during the early 1980s and worked in Asheville, North Carolina.[7] By the early 1990s, Kantner was working in Charlotte, North Carolina, in her sales position.[8] Kantner ended her engineering tenure in 1984.[4]

For her athletic career, Kantner worked for a fitness center in the early 1980s at Pittsburgh.[7] Before becoming a NCAA Division I referee for the Southern Conference in 1984, Kantner had previously refereed basketball games ranging from elementary school to NCAA Division II.[4][2] In 1986, Kantner became an Atlantic Coast Conference referee.[9] In 1990, Kantner was a referee at an exhibition game for the LSU Tigers men's basketball team. At the time, she was part of the first-ever "major college men's game" to only have women referees alongside Patty Broderick and June Corteau.[10]

Kantner was a referee for six conferences simultaneously in 1992, such as the Big Ten Conference and Southeastern Conference.[8] During the mid 1990s, Kantner worked as a salesperson for Cutler-Hammer while working as a college basketball referee.[11] By 1997, Kantner was refereeing for eight conferences at the same time. These included the Pac-10 Conference and West Coast Conference.[12] Outside of college basketball, Kantner refereed in 1995 for the Summer Pro League.[13]

In 1997, Kantner was hired as one of the first women referees in the National Basketball Association alongside Violet Palmer.[4] Her first regular season game as an NBA referee was in November 1997 during a match between the Atlanta Hawks and the Philadelphia 76ers.[14] During her time with the NBA, she was the Supervisor of Officials for the Women's National Basketball Association from 1997 to 1998.[15]

Kantner remained with the NBA until she was fired in 2002.[16] After leaving the NBA, she continued to work in the WNBA as the Director of Referee Development from 2002 to 2004 and was renamed Supervisor of Officials in 2004.[15] By 2019, Kantner had remained in her supervisory role with the WNBA for almost 15 years.[17] For the NCAA, Kantner has been a referee in over twenty Final Four rounds since 1992 and over ten championship games in women's basketball.[9][18]

Outside of the NCAA, Kantner has also worked as a referee for the Continental Basketball Association.[15] At individual events, Kantner was a referee during the National Sports Festival held in 1991.[19] During 1993, she was scheduled to work as a referee during the qualification of the U.S. Olympic Festival.[20] Kantner reffed a quarterfinal game during the women's basketball event at the 2000 Summer Olympics.[21][22]

Honors

As part of the Naismith Awards, Kantner was named the Women's Official of the Year in 1997.[23] Kantner was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2019 and the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2022.[9][24] Kantner was chosen by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association as the winner of their Jostens-Berenson Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023.[25]

References
  1. Jackel, Peter (October 2018). "Dee-cisive". Referee Magazine. p. 52. Retrieved November 22, 2021 – via Issuu.
  2. Lowitt, Bruce (October 2, 2005). "Women refs ready to run with Bulls . . ". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  3. Bonnell, Rick (December 15, 1996). "Ready for the call". The Charlotte Observer. p. 23A.
  4. Shipley, Amy (30 October 1997). "A NEW ORDER ON THE COURT". Washington Post. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  5. Voisin, Aliene (5 January 1998). "Refs Of Another Stripe Kantner Makes Fans Of Coaches In Her Inaugural Nba Season". Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  6. Pryor, Brooke (December 4, 2016). "Dee Kantner". The Daily Oklahoman. p. 10B.
  7. Jackel 2018, p. 54
  8. Bliss, Marjo Rankin (March 1, 1992). "Travel, hustle a big part of referee's life". The Charlotte Observer. p. 2D.
  9. "Dee Kantner 2019". North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  10. Clegg, Guerry (December 10, 1990). "Female crew gives Brown inspiration". Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. p. B-1.
  11. Bonnnell 1996, pp. 1A, 23A
  12. Bortstein, Larry (January 12, 1997). "NBA may hire its 1st female refs soon". The Anninston Star. The Orange County Register. p. 7B.
  13. Voisin, Ailene (March 27, 1997). "Pioneer Kantner to call 'em in the NBA". The Atlanta Constitution. p. E7.
  14. Bonfati, John F. (6 November 1997). "Smooth sailing for Kantner in her first NBA game". AP News. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  15. "WNBA Names Dee Kantner Supervisor of Officials". Our Sports Central. 16 December 2004. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  16. Zeise, Paul (18 July 2002). "Professional Basketball: Pitt grad Kantner first woman referee to be fired by NBA". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  17. Pope IV, Jonas (May 3, 2019). "'19 class features a couple of firsts". The News & Observer. p. 4B.
  18. McGovern, Mike (19 November 2017). "Mike McGovern: a conversation with NCAA women's basketball official Dee Kantner". Reading Eagle. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  19. Araton, Harvey (April 8, 1997). "Female ref prepares for NBA action". The Naples Daily News. N.Y. Times News Service. p. 3C.
  20. Bliss, Marjo Rankin (April 3, 1993). "Charlotte referee gets call for women's championship". The Charlotte Observer. p. 5B.
  21. Howell, Stephen (September 28, 2000). "Hard Opals crank up the defence as they prepare for medal showdown". The Age. p. 14.
  22. Fitzhenry, Maureen (September 28, 2000). "Australia armed and ready for the next challenge". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 12.
  23. "Past Winners". Naismith Awards. Women's Official of the Year. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  24. Smith, Brian (October 30, 2022). "Dee Kantner, Stu Jackson inducted into Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame on 'special' night". Reading Eagle. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
  25. "Longtime game official Dee Kantner receives 2023 Jostens-Berenson Lifetime Achievement Award". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. March 7, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
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