Atlantic Coast Conference Supervisor of Women’s Basketball Officials Charlene Curtis has announced her retirement following 11 years of service to the league and more than 24 years of affiliation with the conference as either a coach or administrator.
“Charlene Curtis has served the Atlantic Coast Conference with dedication and integrity,” said ACC Commissioner John Swofford. “We appreciate her outstanding service to the league, our women’s basketball programs and officials. I greatly admire her strength and faith, and I wish her nothing but health and happiness as she begins this next chapter.”
“The last 11 years spent with the Atlantic Coast Conference family have truly been a blessing,” said Curtis. “I am forever grateful and humbled to have been given the opportunity to serve in the best Conference with the best administrators in athletics. I thank John Swofford and Nora Lynn Finch (ACC Senior Associate Commissioner/Women’s Basketball) for their vision and for taking a chance on this former head coach to lead the women’s basketball officiating program.”
As the ACC Supervisor of Women’s Basketball Officials, Curtis has overseen the expansion of the women’s basketball officiating staff, the management of all evaluations and ratings, and numerous training and educational opportunities to promote the recruitment and development of ACC Women’s Basketball Officials.
Among her accomplishments with the ACC, Curtis created and developed local officiating clinics with a common curriculum, something that did not exist previously. These clinics are now commonplace across the ACC footprint. She also oversaw the growth of the ACC officiating roster as the conference expanded.
During her tenure, the ACC added instant replay in coordination with DVSport, developed a league-specific officiating website, and expanded the officiating observer program with the Colonial Athletic Association.
Nationally, Curtis was a member of the NCAA Rules Committee and NCAA Mechanics Committee during the implementation of the four-period format and restricted area arc with the lower defensive box to the women’s game that started with the 2016-17 season.
In total, Curtis has spent 24 years as a part of ACC Women’s Basketball. She started as an assistant coach at the University of Virginia from 1981-83 before becoming a head coach at Radford (84-90) and Temple (90-95). In 1997, she returned to the league as the head coach at Wake Forest until 2004. Immediately prior to her role as the league’s supervisor of women’s basketball officials, she was a television analyst covering games in both the ACC and SEC, as well as in studio.
–ACC release
