Dee Kantner is trading in her whistle for a microphone.
The 65-year-old who has been a referee in women’s college basketball since 1984 has seemingly officiated her last game. Kantner retired from her longtime profession earlier this year, but isn’t totally stepping away from the game. Beginning next week, she’ll begin a stint as a rules analyst for ESPN, bringing her decades of experience and insight into the homes of millions of women’s college basketball fans.
Meg Aronowitz, ESPN’s senior vice president for production, has long been thinking about adding a rules analyst to women’s college basketball broadcasts in the same way they exist for football and men’s basketball. The need for one came into clearer focus during the Women’s College World Series when a softball rules analyst had to explain what exactly happened during a controversy in the UCLA versus Tennessee game.
“Dee and I have had conversations over the years about, if she ever decided to hang up the sneakers, if she would ever want to be a part of our broadcasts,” Aronowitz told SB Nation. “All of our football games, we’ve got the Matt Austins and Gene Steratores – that’s kind of the idea that I’ve been kicking around for a while with our lead crew… If you watched the Women’s College World Series this past year with Appendix G and the player not touching the plate, our analyst was able to really add value in that moment when it mattered.”
Aronowitz continued: “I really feel like, probably the one thing that we’re missing on our biggest stage during the women’s NCAA Tournament is having this opportunity to have somebody that can really add value. We’ve added rules analysts in the past in the postseason… but not anybody that has the personality that can punch through, that would be able to clearly and succinctly break down in the moment exactly what we’re looking for. And Dee has always been in the back of my mind as somebody that would be really successful in this role.”
Kantner will be working with ESPN’s top women’s college basketball broadcast crew, which will again feature Ryan Ruocco as the lead play-by-play voice, Rebecca Lobo providing color commentary, and Holly Rowe reporting from the sidelines. Kantner’s first game with them will be on Tuesday when Louisville takes on UConn at the relocated Armed Forces Classic in Annapolis, Maryland.
One difference between some other rules analysts and Kantner is that she’ll be on-site for the majority of these games with ESPN’s top crew instead of calling in from a studio. Aronowitz said it’s something that Kantner insisted on to make the broadcast better.
“She felt like she would be able to help Ryan or Rebecca more off-camera, if she was actually there and could make eye contact with them and pass them notes,” Aronowitz said. “That was really important to her, to be able to watch the game in real time and watch the flow of the officials and see how they’re calling the game, and to be out there on the floor. So, we’re going to try it a couple different ways. Obviously, she’ll be new to television, so we’re going to use November and December to kind of teach her the ropes.”
Aronowitz added that Kantner will occasionally work some games with the broadcast crew of Beth Mowins and Debbie Antonelli too. And during the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament where there are multiple big-time games happening at once, Kantner might work from an ESPN studio.
Longtime fans of the sport will recognize Kantner because she has often officiated some of the most important games in women’s college basketball. In addition to working as a referee in 26 Final Fours and 16 national championships, she’s also recently worked in some of the deepest and most-talented conferences in the country, the SEC, ACC and Big Ten.
“I did not plan on being a referee, but I was running out of money during my senior year in college. Athletics were always part of my life. I knew the game and thought, why not? After college, I was working a sales and marketing role in North Carolina where I continued to officiate avocationally,” Kantner told NBA.com earlier this year. “But I had this natural inclination and aptitude for it and then started making the rise up through the ranks of women’s officiating.”
A native of Pennsylvania and graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, Kantner’s career has been a historic one. In addition to officiating countless high-stakes games in college hoops, she and Violet Palmer became the first two women referees in any major U.S. professional men’s sport when the NBA hired them in 1997. Kantner would work 247 NBA games across five seasons.
She also refereed basketball at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and the FIBA World Championships in 1994 and 1998. Kantner is also on the Board of Directors for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, an inductee into both the Pennsylvania and North Carolina sports hall of fames, and a certified beekeeper.
Kantner spent 11 years as the supervisor of officials in the WNBA too. Aronowitz said there’s an interest in having her contribute to ESPN’s broadcasts of WNBA games as well, but the network will make that decision closer to its season beginning.
ESPN will broadcast more than 240 women’s college basketball games on its linear networks this season, and 3,000 more on ESPN+. Six women’s basketball games will be on ABC this season too, beginning with Baylor vs. Texas on Dec. 14. LSU’s clash with South Carolina on Feb. 14 will be the first women’s college basketball game to air in primetime on ABC. College GameDay for women’s basketball will return in February, Aronowitz said.
For many of those must-watch games, fans can expect to see Kantner chiming in and offering analysis when a referee’s call comes into question.
“It’s an exciting opportunity for us,” Aronowitz said. “And, you know, there may be games where we don’t really have anything that we need a rules analyst to weigh in on, and we may never see Dee on television. But then there might be games where we get an Appendix G situation, and that’ll be her time to shine. We’re just thrilled to have her.”
