ATLANTA, Ga. – The Atlanta Tipoff Club announced last week that Mike Eades, a member of the Lees-McRae Hall of Fame Class of 2012, was named the 2020 Naismith Men's College Official of the Year for his contribution to the sport of basketball.
Vice President for Athletics and Club Sports
Craig McPhail sat down with Eades, virtually, to discuss the Naismith Official of the Year award and the memories from his time in Banner Elk. To watch the full conversation, click
HERE.
"I am fortunate to be able to achieve the Naismith award," said Eades. "We all have goals in our life and when I first started moving up as a referee, I heard about the Naismith award and I saw who won the award. Once I saw that, I knew this had to be one of my goals. When I got the call that I had won, I was extremely excited and happy. It is an honor and I feel privileged to be on that list. I'm very happy and fortunate to be able to win the award this year."
First awarded in 1988, the Naismith Official of the Year award recognized individuals who have been involved with the sport as a game official for a minimum of 20 years and display character, integrity and dignity and have contributed to the growth, success and viability of college basketball. For the full announcement, click
HERE.
Eades, who was named the Southeastern Conference's Coordinator of Men's Basketball Officials last spring, has been a Division I official for 23 years in numerous conferences, including the AAC, ACC, Atlantic 10, Big 12, Big East, Big South, Big Ten, CAA, SEC and Southern Conference. His long and successful career as a college basketball game official includes working 13 NCAA Division I Tournaments, four Final Fours and the 2017 title game.
"I feel fortunate to be in the position I am in today, as there are only five of these positions in the country," said Eades when discussing his position as the SEC's Consortium Coordinator of Men's Basketball Officials. "One of the reasons that I took this job was an opportunity to help mentor younger officials in order to help them achieve their individual goals. To be in a position to help others, you cannot take that for granted."
Eades, who was a Lees-McRae student-athlete from 1981-1983, was an outstanding point guard for Head Basketball Coach Carlisle Hostetter as he hold the school record for the most assists in a game with 15 and for averaging 5.2 assists throughout his career. In addition to being third all-time in assists with 283 assists, Eades is second in single-season assists with 148 during the 1981-82 season, only trailing his teammate Kenny Hill.
"I was so excited when I got the phone call to come play for Lees-McRae," said Eades. "I liked the mountains and the atmosphere, even though I haven't been around a lot of people in Banner Elk, I instantly knew that this was the place. It was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. I'm glad I received that call from Coach Hostetter."
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