ROSEMONT, Ill. — The Men’s Basketball Collegiate Officiating Consortium, LLC, representing the Big Ten Conference, Horizon League, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), Mid-American Conference (MAC), Summit League and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, announced Tuesday that the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) will join the Consortium as affiliate members, beginning with the 2019-20 season.
The Men’s Basketball Collegiate Officiating Consortium will now provide regional officiating oversight for 96 institutions in 22 states.
“We are thrilled to be joining the Collegiate Officiating Consortium,” CCIW Commissioner Chris Martin said. “We are thankful for the many years of service by Ken Maziarka, our previous men’s basketball officiating coordinator, but are tremendously excited about this new approach with the COC.
“The high level training, education and oversight by the COC, being led by Steve Honacki for the CCIW, will greatly benefit our men’s basketball programs. We are thankful for the opportunity to work with the COC member conferences at the D-I, D-II and now D-III levels and are excited about the future of our men’s basketball officiating with this new partnership.”
Steve Honacki, a Chicago native and active Consortium official with nine years experience in Division I, will join the COC, LLC staff and oversee operations for the CCIW. Honacki officiated in the CCIW for 9 seasons while moving up into the Division I ranks with the Big Ten, MAC, Summit, Horizon, Conference USA, Missouri Valley, and Ohio Valley conferences.
WIAC Commissioner Gary Karner stated, “The WIAC is extremely fortunate and appreciative of the opportunity to partner its men’s officiating program with the COC this coming season. Our affiliation with the Consortium will allow for the allocation of resources for recruiting, training and evaluating our men’s basketball officials that, as a Division III conference, we could never duplicate on our own. It is fully anticipated that the COC will provide our men’s basketball officials with an incomparable level of training and feedback, as well as the opportunity to more readily advance their officiating careers to the next level.”
Paul Szelc, a Milwaukee native and active Consortium official with 16 years experience at the Division I level will join the COC, LLC staff and oversee the WIAC. Szelc officiated in the WIAC from 2003-2012 and is now officiating in 11 Division I conferences including the Big Ten, Big East, ACC, PAC 12, and Horizon League.
“We are excited to welcome the CCIW and WIAC into our organization and will certainly benefit from collaboration with two of the nation’s finest NCAA Division III men’s basketball conferences,” said Consortium Executive Director and Big Ten Associate Commissioner Rick Boyages. “These two exceptional leagues have combined to win 18 D-III national championships since 1975 and will further enhance our Consortium’s mission to identify, train and develop the nation’s finest collegiate basketball officials.”