LEXINGTON, Ky. _ John Hampton likes to tell a story about officiating Kentucky's games during the trip to the Bahamas four years ago. No more than 30 seconds into the first game he slapped a technical foul on an opposing player.
"You've got a language barrier," Hampton said. "Dude came running at me and alleging I work for Kentucky. And he's saying it in English. It was hilarious."
Actually, UK paid the referees' traveling and lodging expenses, plus meals on the trip. Plus, UK paid the three-man crew a per-game fee.
Hampton laughed. "Regardless, he deserved the technical," he said, "regardless of who was employing me."
Kentucky and the same three referees will again work together in the same financial arrangement during this coming week's return trip to the Bahamas. Hampton, younger brother Brent Hampton and Bart Lenox will travel with UK and call the four games. All are natives of Cynthiana and all are Southeastern Conference referees.
Hampton described these trips as UK coach John Calipari's way of saying thank you. Kentucky regularly calls on the referees who live nearby to work scrimmages, practices, the Blue-White Game and preseason exhibitions.
"It's really nice of UK to do this for us," Hampton said. "Cal really likes to have real referees when they scrimmage instead of an assistant coach or a manager. He likes it to be game-like. He likes for the young guys to get a feel for what is going to be a foul at the SEC level."
This is especially true with college basketball trending toward more tightly officiated games in order to reduce physical play. And, of course, UK's reliance on freshmen enhances the need to familiarize the players with college officiating.
"It's really gracious and generous on their part," Hampton said.
It's interesting to wonder what opposing SEC coaches think of the arrangement. Since the SEC does not permit the three to work UK's regular-season games, there's no direct conflict of interest such as I'm-not-calling-a-foul-against-my-Bahamas-benefactor.
But here's a hypothetical: Say, Alabama and Kentucky are prime contenders to win the SEC regular-season championship. And the three officiate a late-season Alabama loss to, say, LSU that makes Kentucky the champion.
Would that scenario be problematic?
"Yes," former Auburn coach Sonny Smith said. "It would. Yes. Without a doubt."
John Clougherty, a longtime SEC referee and later supervisor of officials for the Atlantic Coast Conference, agreed.
"That's a bad situation because if Alabama loses and finds out this guy had a paid vacation to the Bahamas, it's going to raise eyebrows," he said.
Clougherty volunteered an alternative hypothetical. "If Kentucky lost and there was an official from Alabama that traveled with Alabama to the Bahamas," he said. "Knowing Cal, he'd have his suspicions."
Don Rutledge, a longtime SEC referee, scoffed at the notion that these scenarios could raise serious concerns involving conflict of interest.
"If you don't trust people more than that, you're an idiot," he said. "And the film doesn't lie. You go back and look at film and you show me something, and then you prove cause. I have never been on the floor with a referee I knew was cheating in all the years I was a referee. I've never seen one. Now, I've seen some get mad and get a little vindictive."
This is not to suggest suspicions are warranted. The three referees are well respected. The Hampton brothers are the sons of a retired referee, Doug Hampton. Lenox's father, Mike Lenox, is a retired teacher and noted amateur golfer.
In their "real jobs," the Hamptons work in insurance. Lenox works in golf retail.
It turns out that the arrangement of familiar referees working games on a college team's foreign trip is commonplace.
Rutledge said he once went on a 28-day trip to Australia to call games for Lute Olson's Arizona team. He also went to Europe with Olson to conduct clinics. Nike and the NCAA paid his expenses.
And Clougherty said that Tony Greene worked games when Florida State went on a foreign trip.
Besides Calipari saying thank you, Clougherty cited two other non-controversial reasons UK might want the SEC officials. There might not be an abundance of quality referees in the Bahamas, he said. Calipari would want referees who could prevent the games from becoming dangerously rough or bogged down because of over-officiating.
By the way, Clougherty said that Canada has a good number of quality referees, and Duke is not taking ACC referees on its tour of Canada later this month.
Of course, officiating invites intrigue.
"What if Kentucky went out and got three guys who didn't work in the SEC to take with them," Rutledge said. "What do you think the (SEC) staff would think? 'You don't think our officials are competent?'
"We're going to catch criticism no matter what we do."
Referees are so used to second-guessing, that questions about conflict of interest produce a shrug. "That's a day at the beach," Rutledge said.
For UK's trip to the Bahamas, make that seven days at the beach.
