Referee scorned by Kentucky fans not allowed to officiate Final Four

A college basketball referee who met the wrath of Big Blue Nation last year will not officiate the Final Four after being part of a crew that mishandled a call earlier in the NCAA Tournament, according to ESPN.

John Higgins has officiated seven Final Fours but was pulled off last weekend’s tournament games. Despite being considered one of the top referees in the sport, he will not be allowed to officiate a fourth straight Final Four, according to ESPN.

Higgins was an alternate official in Auburn’s first-round game against College of Charleston, in which an incorrect Auburn player was allowed to shoot free throws to seal the game.

“If an official errs on a rule, misses a game-deciding play or his miss-call ratio is too high, they are subject to not advancing in the NCAA Tournament,” NCAA’s coordinator of officials, J.D. Collins, told ESPN.

Following University of Kentucky’s loss to North Carolina in last year’s NCAA Tournament in which Higgins officiated, unhappy UK fans bombarded Higgins with phone calls and posts to his business’s Facebook page. He was accused of purposely making several bad calls against Kentucky.

He eventually filed a lawsuit against Kentucky Sports Radio, its founder, Matt Jones, and the company’s managing editor, Drew Franklin. He accused them of publishing his contact information and enticing fans to use it following Kentucky’s loss to UNC.

Higgins’ personal company “suffered serious business losses” and he suffered emotional distress as a result of threats and harassment, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit filed by Higgins has been moved from his home state of Nebraska to Kentucky.

This story was originally published March 26, 2018 at 8:32 AM with the headline "Referee scorned by Kentucky fans not allowed to officiate Final Four."