Ted Valentine

Theodore Valentine (born circa 1959) is an American college basketball referee. Over a career spanning four decades he has refereed four NCAA championships, 10 Final Fours, and 28 NCAA tournaments. In 2005, he won the Naismith College Official of the Year.

Early life and career Valentine grew up in a high-income, gated community, just outside of Moundsville, West Virginia. He was raised by his mother, who was a worker at a Louis Marx and Company factory, making big wheel tricycles. His mother would put cardboard into her shoes over worn soles to save money. He did not know his father until junior high. In the same year he met his father, he witnessed a friend die from an accidental gunshot wound to the head. Following this, he developed a stutter, for which he saw two speech therapists. He attended John Marshall High School, where he played baseball for three years.

He attended Glenville State College, where he majored in physical education. He played first base for his college baseball team. He was inducted into his college's sports hall of fame in 2006, after lettering in baseball. Following college, he returned to John Marshall High School, becoming a physical education and driver's education teacher, as well as a coach. Valentine was censured for making the "clearly erroneous" second technical, and was placed under restrictions for non-conference Big Ten Conference basketball games for the following season.

On March 1, 2014, during a game involving the Cincinnati Bearcats, the team's coach Mick Cronin contested an out of bounds call. Valentine got into Cronin's face and the two men needed to be separated. Valentine later apologized. Berry's head coach Roy Williams was not critical of Valentine's officiating in the game. The ACC indicated they were handling the incident internally, That March, Valentine was informed he would not be working the 2018 NCAA tournament. Valentine believed the banishment from the tournament stemmed from the January incident.

Personal life He has one daughter, Joneesha, and a granddaughter.