- Tommi Paris was eliminated from the NCAA tournament’s first-round game on Saturday
- An online profile says he received a master’s degree from Chattanooga.
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The NCAA was dramatically forced to change one of the referees in a first-round March Madness game on Saturday due to a background conflict.
Tommi Paris was removed from the Chattanooga-NC State game after it was discovered in an online profile that she received a master’s degree from Chattanooga.
She was quickly replaced by Angelica Suffren, who had worked the first contest at the Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, North Carolina.
“There was a change of referees at halftime of the Chattanooga-NC State first-round game because it was learned after the game began that referee 2 Tommi Paris had an underlying conflict that, if known, would prevent him from working with the position assigned game,” the NCAA said in a statement.
The NCAA asks all officials being considered for the NCAA Tournament to disclose their school affiliations to avoid potential conflicts. In this case, it was not disclosed.
Tommi Paris was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament between Chattanooga and NC State
“They literally just… took me into the locker room and told me they were making a change,” Chattanooga coach Shawn Poppie said of when he found out at halftime.
‘I do not know what happened. I didn’t see anything specific.
“Maybe this is the second time in my career that this has happened. But the other one was hurt, so you already knew that. But I’m not very sure about this one.
Suffren, who worked the previous Green Bay-Tennessee game, was on the court during the second half of the Chattanooga-NC State game. Danielle Jackson had been listed as a substitute game official.
The decision to send Suffren back to the court came “because he provided the most on-court experience and allowed the game to maintain a full officiating crew in addition to being on standby,” the NCAA statement said.
Aziaha James scored each of her 19 points in the second half and NC State won 64-45.
Poppie said: ‘I thought that’s what standby was for. But I’m new to this too. We are all learning. So I’m not exactly sure what happened.
Aziaha James scored each of his 19 points in the second half as NC State pulled away from Chattanooga for a 64-45 victory.
Saniya Rivers scored 16 points and River Baldwin had 10 points and 11 rebounds, powering NC State coach Wes Moore to a victory against his former team.
Next up for No. 3-seeded NC State is former Wolfpack coach Kellie Harper and sixth-seeded Tennessee on Monday. The Lady Vols advanced with a 92-63 victory over Green Bay.
The winner will go to the Sweet 16 in Portland, Oregon.