Dee Kantner

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Dee Kantner
Born (1960-05-03) May 3, 1960 (age 61)
Reading, Pennsylvania
OccupationNCAA referee

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 Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference throughout the 1990s. With the NCAA, Kantner has refereed for various Final Four games since 1992. Additional events Kantner has refereed include the 1998 FIBA World Championship for Women and the 2000 Summer Olympics.

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. 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.[1] During her childhood, Kantner took up track and field and basketball.[2] She played field hockey while at the University of Pittsburgh and graduated with an engineer's degree in 1982.[3]

Career[]

Kantner began refereeing while at the University of Pittsburgh.[4] 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.[5] Kantner ended her engineering tenure in 1984.[3]

For her athletic career, Kantner worked for a fitness center in the early 1980s at Pittsburgh.[5] 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.[3][2] After becoming an Atlantic Coast Conference referee in 1986, Kantner continued to referee for the ACC alongside the Southeastern Conference in the 1990s.[6][2]

In 1997, Kantner was hired as one of the first women referees in the National Basketball Association alongside Violet Palmer.[3] Her first regular season game as an NBA referee was in November 1997 during a match between the Atlanta Hawks and the Philadelphia 76ers.[7] During her time with the NBA, she was the Supervisor of Officials for the Women's National Basketball Association from 1997 to 1998.[8]

Kantner remained with the NBA until she was fired in 2002.[9] 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.[8] With the NCAA, Kantner has been a referee in over twenty Final Four rounds since 1992 and over ten championship games in women's basketball.[6][10] Outside of the NCAA, Kantner was a referee at the 1998 FIBA World Championship for Women, 2000 Summer Olympics and the Continental Basketball Association.[8]

Honors[]

Kantner was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.[6]

References[]

  1. ^ Jackel, Peter (October 2018). "Dee-cisive". Referee Magazine. p. 52. Retrieved November 22, 2021 – via Issuu.
  2. ^ a b c Lowitt, Bruce (October 2, 2005). "Women refs ready to run with Bulls . . ". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d Shipley, Amy (30 October 1997). "A NEW ORDER ON THE COURT". Washington Post. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ a b Jackel 2018, p. 54
  6. ^ a b c "Dee Kantner 2019". North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  7. ^ Bonfati, John F. (6 November 1997). "Smooth sailing for Kantner in her first NBA game". AP News. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  8. ^ a b c "WNBA Names Dee Kantner Supervisor of Officials". Our Sports Central. 16 December 2004. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ McGovern, Mike (19 November 2017). "Mike McGovern: a conversation with NCAA women's basketball official Dee Kantner". Reading Eagle. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
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