On Saturday night, the Atlanta Tip-Off Club honored two

Fayetteville men, Bill Diprano and Andre Patillo, for their

outstanding work as college basketball officials. Diprano was named

Georgia College Official of the Year and Patillo won a Naismith

award and was named National College Official of the Year. Both

men acknowledged what a great honor the award was and how

surprised they were at winning. Though they may be humble, they are the

best in their field.

Bill Diprano, a builder in Fayetteville, got his start

officiating fifteen years ago as a sophomore in college. He had played

basketball at Oglethorpe University for two years By working the

recreation level and high school level games, Bill earned some

extra money. He has been officiating college games for the last

eight years. He officiates games from Division One through

Division Three, with the biggest game he ever called in the Division

Three Tournament in Orlando. To keep moving up the ranks of

refereeing, you must complete courses and camps. It is at these

camps that Bill got to meet some of the colleagues that he currently

works with and respects a great deal. One of those friends is

Andre Patillo, a referee of big time division one games.

How big time are the games that Mr. Patillo referees? He

was an official in that game between UCONN and Gonzaga a

few weeks ago in that little basketball tournament they have. He

started refereeing in 1977 and has been an SEC official since 1984.

He currently officiates in 10 different conferences in Division

One. Andre attended Morehouse College and was also part of

the Braves minor league system for a few years. Andre also tried

out for the Dallas Cowboys, the Minnesota Vikings and the San

Francisco 49ers as a punter. He coached football for seven

years and worked his way through the ranks in the admissions office

at Morehouse. Currently, Mr. Patillo is the Director of

Admissions for his alma mater.

He was talked into refereeing by his brother and he has

continued because of a love for what he was doing. " I like the

challenge of refereeing," he said. "The tempo of the game and the

ability of the athletes makes it extremely difficult." He feels very

blessed with positive things that come from officiating. It keeps

him physically and mentally fit and he enjoys the camaraderie.

Bill Diprano enjoys calling games for similar reasons and finds his

patience and demeanor help him out in every game. Diprano

states, "I don't get flustered very easily."

When both were asked about the crazier moments that

occurred during games they were calling, they cited fights as the

hardest things to handle. "You just have to restore order as quickly as

you can," Diprano says. "The rules tend to fly out the window for

a minute." Patillo knows how bad fights can be in college

basketball. He was forced to eject 10 players in the 1991 SEC

Tournament, including Shaquille O'Neal. The fight delayed the game

20 minutes in a game that was being televised.

The good has obviously outweighed the bad for both men,

in fact, Patillo called the championship game between Arkansas

and Kentucky in the SEC Tournament in 1995. The game went to

overtime and was possibly one of the better SEC Tournament games

of the decade. Andre has the game ball in his office.

Bill DiPrano wants to go further with his officiating and

Andre Patillo has accomplished a great deal. Both men will continue

to officiate because being an official is a significant role in

athletics. They love the game of basketball, the challenges of the game and

the benefits it provides. As any good official knows, you are only

as good as your last call.

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