2024
FOUR EYES OFF THE BALL
Referee.com
From years of being around high‑level Division I men’s college basketball officials, Ray Natili learned to train his eyes and “quit looking at the basketball.” It’s a mantra he now shares at camps he works at as an observer over the summer to help others improve their officiating skills by looking off the ball.
One spring, while observing at Curtis Shaw’s camp in Duncanville, Texas, Natili repeatedly urged campers to look off the ball for illegal activity. He coined the phrase, “Four eyes off the ball,” and credits officials like Shaw, Mike Wood and Karl Hess with helping him develop that skill. Now he is passing it down.
In a three‑person crew, we “don’t need six eyes on the ball,” Natili said. “We need four off the ball. There’s a whole other world out there off the ball. You have three officials on the court, so only one‑third of those eyes should be following the ball, the other two‑thirds should be off.
During Shaw’s camp, Natili gave officials walking orders to practice: Get an off‑the‑ball foul every half. That meant they were actively looking at and enforcing coverage in their area. “I don’t care if the calls are marginal,” Natili observed. “It’s a camp. Get in the habit. When it’s December, then it’s part of what you do.”
As an experienced D‑I official who has worked deep into the NCAA tournament, Natili is keenly aware of the importance of cleaning up excessive physicality in the college game. Setting a strong example of enforcement and passing down lessons to other officials is an important part of ensuring freedom of movement.
