Dee Kantner

Dee was an outstanding all-around athlete at Exeter HS earning a total of 13 varsity letters. She attended University of Pittsburgh on a field hockey scholarship and earned four letters. She began officiating women’s Division 1 basketball in 1984 and officiated first women’s Final Four in 1992 and has since officiated at 26 NCAA Final Fours and 16 national championship games. She officiated 2 Women’s World Championships and the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. She was named Naismith Women’s Official of the year in 1997. Dee and Violet Palmer were the first two women to ever officiate in the NBA (1997-2002). She was first Supervisor of Officials for the WNBA and has served as Director of Referee Development since 2002. Dee continues to officiate Division 1 basketball.