Officials Face Penalties for Ejection of Bibby

The officiating crew of Richie Ballesteros, Donald McAllister and Jim Giron faces disciplinary action from Pacific 10 Conference officials after incorrectly ejecting USC basketball Coach Henry Bibby from Thursday’s game at the Sports Arena against Arizona State.

Commissioner Tom Hansen said Friday that conference officials were discussing “a range of options”--from private reprimands to suspensions. He said that a decision could come as early as Monday.

Bibby was asked by Ballesteros to leave the court 58 seconds into the second half after a technical was called on USC assistant coach Dave Miller by Giron. Bibby had been assessed a technical foul by Ballesteros with 1:31 left in the first half.

According to the rules, if the head coach has two technical fouls, or the team bench has three, the head coach is ejected. Neither was the case Thursday. After the officials realized their error, Bibby was allowed to return to the game with 14:44 left to play.

Ballesteros admitted after the game that the officials had erred in sending Bibby off the court.

“When we realized our mistake, we were waiting for the first dead-ball situation to correct it,” Ballesteros said.

Pac-10 spokesman Jim Muldoon said that conference officials traditionally take a dim view of an error such as that one.

“A good or bad judgment call is just that,” Muldoon said. “A mistake on the rules is different.”

Hansen said he had talked about the game Friday with his staff, USC Athletic Director Mike Garrett and associate athletic director Daryl Gross. He said that he will discuss the situation further with Lou Campanelli, the conference coordinator of men’s officials.

Campanelli is in Washington this weekend to observe Pac-10 games. He was not expected to return to conference headquarters at Walnut Creek, Calif., until Sunday.

“It’s not so much what happened, as to who knew what and what was communicated,” Hansen said.

USC won the game, 80-68. But that did little to appease Bibby or Gross.

“I do feel I’m being targeted, for whatever the reason,” Bibby said Friday. “There was no call for what happened last night.

“I just want the games to be called the right way. I’m not looking for any favors. If I’m deserving of a technical foul, I need one. I’m not deserving of a technical foul if I tell the referee, ‘That’s a moving screen, oh my gosh.”’

Bibby said he does not have an acrimonious relationship with Ballesteros.

“I haven’t been in college basketball long enough to have a history with them [the referees],” said Bibby, who has been at USC since 1995. “But that’s not my concern. Last night was not fair to the fans, players or USC.”

Gross said that USC is battling to make the NCAA tournament field and cannot afford to lose games because of mistakes such as the one Thursday.

“Our thing was to point out [to Hansen] our concerns as how critical a mistake like that is in this part of the season, or any part,” Gross said. “Henry is one of the top floor coaches in the country. If he is ejected, it’s like losing a star player.”

When Bibby left the game, the Trojans led, 39-35. When he returned a little more than four minutes later, the Sun Devils led, 45-44.

Ballesteros is considered a top Pac-10 official. But he been involved in other controversy this season.

In the Arizona-Connecticut game Dec. 9 in Storrs, Conn., Ballesteros made a goaltending call against Wildcat center Loren Woods with 1.8 seconds to play. The basket won the game for Connecticut, 71-69. Television replays showed the block appeared to be within the rules.