Wichita referee known for 1982 North Carolina-Georgetown title game dies at 81
John Dabrow, a long-time basketball referee and former Wichita resident who most famously refereed the 1982 college basketball national championship game between North Carolina and Georgetown, died of natural causes at age 81 on Saturday in Reno, Nevada.
Dabrow was an official for 38 years, including the last 23 as a Division I men’s basketball referee mostly in the Big Eight and Pac-10 conferences. He was selected to work nine NCAA tournaments before retiring in 1995.
He was inducted into the Greater Wichita Officials Association Hall of Fame in 2000, then in the Kansas Collegiate Officials Hall of Fame in 2006.
“The biggest thing about John was his personality,” said Craig Helser, the president of the Kansas Collegiate Officials Hall of Fame. “He had this ability to talk to people and make them smile and he was able to get himself out of sticky situations because of that. Maybe the coaches didn’t always like his calls, but he was able to make them laugh and believe what he was doing was the right thing.”
Bennie Lee, a Kansas Collegiate Officials Hall of Fame inductee himself, moved to Wichita around the same time as Dabrow in 1968. They worked closely together through the years, as Lee was the supervisor of officials in the Jayhawk Conference and Dabrow held the same position in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Dabrow would wear black-and-white striped socks to match his referee uniform, Lee recalled, a quirk that tended to wrinkle some who preferred a traditional look on officials. But Dabrow refused to be ordinary. His brash style may not have been embraced by everyone, but he earned everyone’s respect when on the court.
“He was very good at his job and he let people know, the coaches, the fans, the supervisors, that he was good at his job and he backed it up,” Lee said. “He had this gap between his teeth and he would flash that grin and he could just make people smile. He had that ability to maybe even make up a bad call. It’s sad that John is no longer with us.”
Dabrow resided in Wichita for much of his career as a top-tier official. Before he ascended to one of college basketball’s top referees, Dabrow started by working high school basketball games in the City League. He also worked part-time at various YMCAs around Wichita and was able to impact thousands of lives through his work promoting basketball in the city.
But his claim to fame was being selected to referee the 1982 national championship game, which featured future NBA all-stars Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, James Worthy and Eric Floyd. It became one of college basketball’s most recognizable championship games when Jordan hit the game-winning jumper with 15 seconds remaining to push North Carolina to a 63-62 victory over Georgetown.
Dabrow can be seen in the background of Sports Illustrated’s iconic picture of Jordan’s game-winner.
“One of my greatest memories of John was when he called me to tell me he had been selected for that game,” Lee said. “My chest still sticks out that one of our own worked in a NCAA championship game. It was a big deal to all of us. It just emphasized to everyone that if you work hard enough, you can get there. John proved that to us.”
Dabrow is survived by his wife of 38 years, Constance, as well as three daughters: Tammy Willard, Kristin Barbeau and Lisa Dabrow. He has 11 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
A celebration of life is scheduled for Feb. 9 at 11725 W. Alderny Ct. #53 from 3-6 p.m. and the family encourages anyone to come share their memories and stories of Dabrow.
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