Hank Nichols

Henry Owen Nichols (July 20, 1936 – March 27, 2026) was an American college basketball referee and later supervisor of officials. In 2012, he was inducted as a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Nichols is also a member of the Philadelphia Big 5 Hall of Fame, Villanova Athletic Hall of Fame, the Philadelphia Athletic Hall of Fame, the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame, and the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. He officiated 10 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Final Fours, a record six NCAA Men's Basketball National Championships, three NIT Finals, two Olympic Games and one European Championship. He was also the first official to work with both the NIT and NCAA Championship Basketball Finals in a single year, and the first National Coordinator of Officials. Since 2004, he has worked as an Umpire Observer for Major League Baseball.

Early life and education Nichols was born on July 20, 1936, in Niagara Falls, New York, where he grew up. In high school, he attended Bishop Duffy High and lettered in three sports. He earned a scholarship to Villanova University, where he played catcher. He also started on the freshman basketball team.

After graduation, Nichols spent two years in the Marine Corps, followed by three years playing minor league baseball in the Cincinnati Reds organization. In his last season (at age 27), he hit .330 as a player-manager in the Western Carolina League.

"I just remember getting out of everybody's way," Nichols said. "Those players were so good. We just kind of watched them. It was a magnificent game." The championship game was John Wooden's final game as the head coach at UCLA.

In 1976, he officiated at the Olympic Games in Montreal, the first of two Olympic assignments. His second would come in 1984 in Los Angeles. While in this position, Nichols also was the secretary/editor of the Basketball Rules Committee from 1991 to 1997.