As a college basketball player, Eric Dust always respected officials on the court. Now he is an official, and his appreciation of the profession has grown even stronger.
"I really respect the grind that a lot of these guys go through," said Dust, a standout basketball player at Missouri-St. Louis from 2017 to 2019, when he graduated with a degree in business administration.
The grind of pressure-packed situations and hectic schedules is part of what attracted Dust to officiating and why he now thinks former student-athletes can handle the career so well. He's even gone as far as recruiting former teammates and opponents to consider it, pitching it as a way to stay in the game and give back in a much-needed way. In 2018, the Division II Conference Commissioners Association released a white paper describing a shortage of game officials as a "growing crisis in amateur athletics."
"Even at a youth sports perspective, high school, grade school, youth and rec leagues, it's getting to a point where they're not going to be able to play the games because no one's wanting to referee it," Dust said of the challenges the profession faces. "There is so much opportunity (for former student-athletes), and there are so many games to give out."
When Dust finished his Missouri-St. Louis career, he was unaware of this opportunity. He did not expect to step back onto a basketball floor. He had never officiated a game. And he had no plans to until he got a call from Gerry Pollard, who is the coordinator of men's basketball officials for several NCAA conferences, including the Great Lakes Valley Conference, the Division II conference in which Dust played.
Dust recalled the moment clearly. He was in his dorm room, not long after his senior season had ended, when Pollard — an advocate for the Collegiate Player-to-Ref program — called with his pitch to give officiating a try.
"He talked about the bright lights, the adrenaline rush, all those things you had while you were playing, refereeing is a way to still get a lot of those same feelings," Dust said. "He said, 'It's a great way to stay with the game, kind of serve the game and pay it forward to the next generation of young men and kids growing up.'"
Dust's interest was piqued. After a trial run at a weekend-long officiating camp in Arkansas, he "fell in love with it … and I've been plugging away since."
He's also been rising fast in the profession. After spending a year officiating in the high school ranks, Dust began getting opportunities at the college level last season. This season, he'll be working some Division I games.
Dust is quick to credit mentors like Pollard and Southeastern Conference official K.B. Burdett, among the many he's learned from so far.
"It's definitely a brotherhood," Dust said. "You get the same camaraderie that you do playing as you do working with other officials."
The grind is another similarity Dust noted between the two worlds of playing and officiating. The grind was Dust's life at Missouri-St. Louis, where juggling classes, practices, games and a social life made for a jampacked schedule from November to March. This is still somewhat true for Dust during basketball season. Only now he's juggling a full-time job at Boeing and a secondary career as an official.
"I never really have had a free winter, so, honestly, I kind of like it," Dust said. "That's always been my routine."
Dust (left) hands the ball to a player during a game he officiated in the 2020-21 season. A former college basketball player, Dust credits his student-athlete experience for his quick transition to a new side of the game. (Photo courtesy of Eric Dust)
In addition to helping him maintain a familiar routine, Dust said his student-athlete experience has benefited his venture into officiating in several other ways. Among them are time management, communication and organization skills.
"The same things apply to the real world, in general," Dust said. "Working a day job, you have to have all those same kind of skills, but then throw in refereeing on top of having a day job and everything else, it's very much similar to juggling classes, practice and social life … so I think because I was a student-athlete, I wasn't really shellshocked."
Dust said his "feel for the game" from his playing days has helped the transition to a different side of it.
"As the game's going on, you can kind of know what teams are trying to do and kind of when and where certain areas of the floor are you might really need to focus on in certain times of the game," he said. "From the playing perspective, just having that natural feel, I've reaped the benefits of that."
At 6 feet 8, Dust said coaches generally assume he has college basketball experience. They ask where he played, not whether he played. Dust said this gives him instant credibility.
"It's more comforting to them that, 'OK, this guy has played in college. He kind of gets it. He understands,'" he said. "It's still your job to live up to it and get past the first impression, but it does buy you credibility as soon as you step on the floor."
Now, Dust is trying to bring other former players into the fold to enjoy similar opportunities.
"Even some of my teammates and guys I've played against, I've kind of been getting in their ear of, 'You can't play forever, so it's a great way to stay with the game,'" Dust said. "I'm joining Gerry and trying to bring as many guys along as we can."
For more on serving as an official, visit ncaa.org/sayyestoofficiating.
