“I’m very blessed I was able to get through this. He heard from coaches, too. Roger Ayers is a Roanoke native and a former firefighter turned basketball official. Lorraine, a sweet-natured stay-athome mom, would occasionally slip into epileptic seizures, a terrifying scene that toughened the senses of her oldest son. He had tested negative the day before. Stadium reported that referees Ted Valentine, John Higgins and Roger Ayers were among those sent home. Why former Virginia Tech safety Divine Deablo is headed into the NFL at the 'perfect time', What the Tennessee Titans said about drafting Caleb Farley in the first round, Former Virginia Tech cornerback Caleb Farley won’t attend 2021 NFL Draft after testing positive for COVID-19. “Too many of the top guys in the nation — and he is among the top guys — think that they don’t need to learn anymore. This was a man who poured himself emotionally into becoming the best official he could possibly be. Destiny again strikes in this seemingly charmed life when a friend asks him to officiate basketball games in the Cove Spring Recreational League at Cove Spring Middle School. Call it a career U-turn. ... Kipp Kissinger and Roger Ayers. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski argues a call with official Roger Ayers during Duke’s game against Louisville during the ACC tournament. Ayers, a referee in the ACC and other conferences, tested positive for COVID-19 on March 14 — the day he arrived in Indianapolis for the NCAAs. “That’s why she couldn’t drive and she couldn’t work, but we had a home-cooked meal every night.”. “I saw him in the first high school camp that he was in and you knew right there that he had the look. Roger Ayers is a Roanoke native and a former firefighter turned basketball official with a perspective on the tournament most never get to see. The two men barged into the raging inferno, instantly to be engulfed by the smoke and fire. Roger Ayers: 06/11-06/13: l:co m m:3p: 350: 4/24 : Individual courtside instruction from NCAA Division I basketball officials. “Roger spends his off time watching tapes, listening to and reading critiques of his work and is always looking for some suggestions that will help his ability to do a better job on the floor.”. All I have are these old shoes.’ She never said another word. “He could run the floor, he had great signals and all those things play into looking the part and he did that from Day One.”. “And he went on to help new officials. The younger Roger was the recipient of converging forces from his parents that would prove to be so vital with his officiating career. We wore masks at dinner. Taking a seat in the second-to-last row in the upper deck of the coliseum, Ayers scanned the arena floor. I didn’t expect any glory, but to be selected Firefighter of the Year, that was huge.”. He gets a bunch of ACC assignments and occasionally snags an SEC, Big East or Big 12 game as well. Ayers made the two-hour drive from his Roanoke home to watch the ACC tournament in Greensboro, N.C. Ayers was sent home from the NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis last month after testing positive for COVID-19. Paul Barnard was the head basketball coach of the William Byrd Terriers before later becoming an assistant to Page Moir at Roanoke College. It’s just that this was one rocky launch. Editor's Picks Jay Bilas picks every single game in the 2021 NCAA … After COVID-19 fight, referee Roger Ayers 'on the mend'. He’s more concerned with helping others, which is what he does every summer with fellow men’s Division I basketball official Mike Eades at their Referee’s Choice Officiating Camp at Liberty University in Roanoke. Heavy smoke and fire. “I felt really, really bad about the five guys I went to dinner with,” he said. Most … And in all those years, I never had anybody work as hard as he did to be good. And I’ve had a lot of guys tell me, ‘Now we’re more careful when we put the ball in play.’ If that helps someone along the way, then, hey, maybe something good can come out of it.”. ... Roger Ayers; According to reports, the referees … He drove to Indianapolis on March 14 after the A-10 final. I had zero energy, just enough to grab a Gatorade and lay back down. Six of college basketball’s top officials for the NCAA Tournament — including Ted Valentine, John Higgins and Roger Ayers — have been removed from the NCAA Tournament due to … This Final Four pin was given to Roger Ayers for officiating the national semi-final game between Syracuse and North Carolina in Houston. “Also as a youngster, he joined me as I mowed yards for the elderly in the summer,” Ayers said. Then-Virginia Tech coach Buzz Williams (right) argues with Roger Ayers during a 2017 game. I maintain this lifestyle year round because it enhances my physical and mental well-being. It was just a matter of whether his job would allow him to pursue it,” said Don Vaden, NBA director of officials. ACC referee Roger Ayers was guest speaker. Heavy smoke and fire. He became an official 18 years ago doing "small ball" in … NCAA officials say one referee tested positive Monday, and had interacted with five other officials. “Any time the pager would go off and I could answer, I would go. “You go in as two and you go out as two,” Ayers said. There was no time to lose. Instead, the Roanoke County resident was battling COVID-19. A lesson was in store. Ayers was a point guard who had plenty of game, having played since he was five, but he also had enormous competition. Everything we send is officiating specific because that's all we do. And then light poked through in a figurative sense. … Wearing the mask, testing constantly. Somehow, some way, Ayers blindly made contact with the fire hose with his hand as the numbing alarm continued ticking away the seconds of his life. While Ayers’ reputation is such that he was assigned the ACC tournament and the NCAA tournament that season (including being a standby official for the Final Four), it was an incident that this proud man will never be able to completely release emotionally. It was like being locked in a cage with a lion and there was absolutely no taming it. The elder Roger Ayers, a driven man who earned a living winding coils for ships on an assembly line at General Electric in nearby Sale, Va., ignored sickness and other ailments and grabbed his black lunch box and Thermos by the door like clockwork at 6:15 a.m. so he could be on the job by 6:45. Both reinforced within him the Golden Rule, but Lorraine projected more of a sweetness while there was more of a tough love within the elder Roger. I traveled by myself. “He is loyal, professional in his approach to all aspects of the business, is accountable and someone who works at his craft. After testing positive a second time, Ayers was given permission to drive home that day so he could quarantine at home. Bob Donnan | USA TODAY Sports “I knew one day I wanted a better view and, only five years later, I was on that floor,” Ayers said. “But I’ve been told by health experts that … if you tested negative Saturday, the chance of you exposing someone on Sunday at a basketball game … [is minimal].”. “From there, it went downhill for a few days,” he said. According to CBS, referees Ted Valentine, John Higgins, Kipp Kissinger and Roger Ayers were among those who have been ruled out of the tournament. The NCAA confirmed an official tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday and five others were “identified as exposure risks due to prolonged close contact” the day before. “I just happened to be standing in the lobby and a few of my buddies there said, ‘We’re going to go to dinner next door. I spent probably 20 hours a day in the bed. He was like a sponge. The Roanoke native climbed the ladder from refereeing AAU games all the way to the NCAA final four. “People ask all the time, ‘What’s the toughest arena you worked in?’ and I say, ‘Back home when I was doing rec ball dealing with the moms and grandmothers yelling at me when there were 50 people in the stands,’” Ayers said. “He was just very inquisitive about the whole range of the game. This article is the copyright of ©Referee Enterprises, Inc., and may not be republished in whole or in part online, in print or in any capacity without expressed written permission from Referee. Ayers was in the lobby of his Indianapolis hotel but had not yet checked in when he received a dinner invitation for that night. “They gave me some medicines and an inhaler and I came home and basically stayed in isolation for 14 days. He would commit himself to strenuous daily workouts that would reduce his weight from 220 pounds to 180. He was given a second test to make sure it was not a false positive. 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That life continues to evolve more than 17 years later for Ayers as one of the most respected college basketball officials in the nation. Roanoke native and referee Roger Ayers calling yet another NCAA tournament (WDBJ) By Travis Wells. “I’m still in shock that I tested positive because all year long in the Atlantic Coast Conference they had us testing three days a week minimum,” he said. 023 BREAKING: 6 top referees - including Ted Valentine, John Higgins and Roger Ayers - have been sent home from Indy due to one positive test and contact tracing, sources told … He has developed a mastery of his craft, yet he refuses to allow himself to ever be satisfied. He never got to officiate at this year's NCAAs. His doctor sent him to the Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital emergency room for chest and lung X-rays. Ayers said he has no idea how he contracted COVID-19, although he does wonder about the Dayton hotel he stayed at for the A-10 final. In fact, Ayers had such a passion for officiating that he would shave off the mustache he wore at the time. ... Six of the top referees for this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament have been removed from March Madness after one tested ... John Higgins, Roger Ayers… Ted Valentine, Roger Ayers Among Six NCAA Tournament Referees Ruled Out Due to COVID-19 Protocols Mon Mar 15, 2021 Six of college basketball’s top officials for the NCAA Tournament — including Ted Valentine, John Higgins, and Roger Ayers — have been removed from the NCAA tournament due to one positive COVID-19 test, resulting in contact tracing involving the others. Michael Stephens: His “Rhode” Through Providence, NFL Line Judge Jeff Bergman is All Business, Crews Need To Handle Double Whistles Correctly, Next Level Softball Umpiring Free Email Series, Next Level Baseball Umpiring Free Email Series. Published: Mar. “I was commissioner for 25 years and I had 15 or 20 new people come every year. “As a firefighter, your heart begins to pound upon hearing those words (heavy smoke and fire),” said Ayers, so devoted to his job that he was named the area’s Firefighter of the Year in 1995 and promoted to the rank of captain. Six referees were sent home from the NCAA Tournament bubble in Indianapolis as a result of COVID-19 protocols. Not only did he test positive after staying there, but so did members of the VCU program and CBS analyst Jim Spanarkel. In order to keep up, I have had to change my lifestyle. At that point, the fire was no longer important. “Just to get out of bed for five minutes was a big thing. College Basketball. He was a 30-year-old man who was inspired to pursue firefighting more than two decades earlier when he helplessly stood a few miles away by his parents and brother as their home burned to the ground. Subscribe to get the Referee.com Review every week plus periodic free training and special offers on the sports you officiate. Several Division I officials and college supervisors to conduct classroom lectures. Call it fate. Roger Ayers NCAA men’s basketball official, 24th season A s officials, we get older each new season, yet the players always remain the same age. The NCAA has selected a total of 60 referees for this year's tournament, which gets underway on March 18 with the First Four games. Hess and Roger Ayers — who work mostly in the Atlantic Coast and Big East Conferences — started last week as the co-leaders in games worked this season, 79, or an average of 5.1 a week. I couldn’t take a deep breath without some pain.”. “I’m sure next year on the road they’re going to make me buy dinner.”. According to StatSheet, the top 200 referees collectively averaged 52 games in the 2012-2013 season so far. But it’s made me a better official in that, now, I am overly cautious. Born May 28, 1965, in Lynchburg, Va., Roger was raised with brother Allen, two years his junior, in a modest home that he remembers barely qualified for middle class status. The Patrick Henry High School graduate said that after returning home from the NCAAs, he awoke at about 2 a.m. on March 16 with chills and a sore throat. Kentucky, a team that hasn’t lost many games under John Calipari, lost its last four that Roger Ayers officiated. “[They] found some cloudiness in my right lung that they were concerned might turn into pneumonia,” he said. But as a firefighter, you just keep going.”. Equipped with facemasks and air packs, the two men stood poised at the front door, murmuring all the prayers they could squeeze into those fleeting seconds as they awaited their order to barge in. Rogers Ayers is based out of Roanoke, Virginia, which is a good starting point to get some of the best games in the country. It was nothing new as I had been in hundreds of fires, but something inside me just didn’t feel right. Please try again. Referee Roger Ayers (left) and North Carolina guard Marcus Paige react after a play during the second half of a NCAA Tournament semifinal April 2 in Houston. But he would be alive. He has been able to go to the gym for some light workouts this week. Per Jeff Goodman of Stadium, the six officials are Ted Valentine, Roger Ayers, John Higgins, John Gaffney, Kipp Kissinger and Ray Natili.Combined, the men have worked 18 Final Fours. Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim (right) reacts to having a technical foul called on him by official Roger Ayers during a 2020 game. Among that group, according to a report by Stadium, are some of the most well-regarded veteran referees in college basketball including Ted Valentine, John Higgins and Roger Ayers. ... Kipp Kissinger and Roger Ayers… The order came to enter the home and, as Ayers recalled, “I was met with thick black smoke and extreme heat. He wanted to know why I made one call and didn’t make another. Per Jeff Goodman of Stadium, the six officials are Ted Valentine, Roger Ayers, John Higgins, John Gaffney, Kipp Kissinger and Ray Natili.Combined, the men have worked 18 Final Fours. The NCAA brought … Upon returning to the hotel, the refs took COVID tests, and one tested positive, Goodman reported. You have permission to edit this article. Well, I get called to the office that day. “He said, ‘Son, what are you doing here?’ and I said, ‘Dad, I didn’t make it.’, “He said, ‘Go get in the car.’ I’m thinking we’re going to go to the school and he’s going to tell this coach what he missed out on. “I walk into the kitchen door and my dad is sitting at the table,” Ayers said. He was selected to work the 2018 NCAA Men's Final Four. 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