NCAA names John W. Adams coordinator of men's basketball officials

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -John W. Adams will succeed Hank Nichols as NCAA coordinator of men's basketball officiating at the end of the 2007-08 season.

Adams has been coordinator of officials for the Horizon League since 1999, following similar posts with the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference and Great Lakes Valley Conference. He was an NCAA and Indiana high school official for 15 years.

"His vision for officiating is consistent with that of key stakeholders in the game, including the Division I Men's Basketball Committee, conference commissioners and head coaches," Tom O'Connor, George Mason athletic director and chairman of the NCAA basketball committee, said Monday.

Adams, a 1971 Indiana State graduate, has evaluated Division I officials for the NCAA since 2000. He was a liaison between the NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee and the Conference Commissioners Association's officiating coordinators.

Nichols, the coordinator of men's basketball officials since 1986, announced in August he would retire at the end of this season.