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.