Campanelli Defends Pacific 10 Officials

If Pacific 10 Conference basketball officials are more whistle-happy this season--as many coaches contend--the statistics don’t reflect it.

Entering Thursday’s games, conference officials had called an average of 19.8 fouls a game, only a fractional increase from last season (19.6), according to a Pac-10 statistician.

“It’s not 10 or 15 more fouls a game. We’re not blowing the whistle any more than last year,” said Lou Campanelli, who oversees all Pac-10 officials and came to their defense Thursday after a survey by The Times revealed that a majority of conference coaches were unhappy with the way league games have been called.

“What we’ve done is cleaned out the junk. We’re not doing the trash-talking and taunting anymore. We’ve cut out the elbow incidents and the fighting.”

Campanelli, the former California coach in his first year as coordinator of men’s basketball officiating, said he’s adhering to his three-year plan to improve conference officiating--which he already considers good--and train young referees.

“You don’t build bridges overnight,” he said. “You’ve got to lay a foundation. We’ve got to continue to identify, train and develop young officials. . . . It’s just a matter of time.”