College basketball referee Dee Kantner stood near midcourt on a recent Friday afternoon, during a break between the first and second quarters at McDonough Arena at Georgetown University.
When Kantner, one of the first female officials in the NBA, blew her whistle to signal the start of the second quarter it wasn’t very difficult for the fans in attendance to hear the sound. The crowd was just 229 onlookers in a Big East women’s contest between the host Hoyas and Seton Hall.
March Madness is just around the corner and the men’s NCAA tournament will rake in millions of dollars for the NCAA and TV, with millions of fans watching the games despite the ongoing FBI investigation into a bevy of possible infractions involving coaches and perhaps student-athletes.