As an NBA referee, Zach Zarba's job is about expecting the unexpected. He calls plays in the timeframe of a second, and manages people with a wide range of personalities. Every month Zach flies to 10 games across the country, staying in different hotels in different cities each night; his life is hectic - and he loves it. "I love being on the floor," said Zach, "every night is a show, with the spotlight on the world's best players."

At New Paltz, Zach was on the basketball team and as a result was not allowed to play in college intramural games. Instead, he refereed a game and found that he really enjoyed it. Knowing that he would never play professional basketball, he decided that he would pursue a career as an NBA referee. For five years following graduation, he juggled work with studying to be a referee. Zach worked high school and men's league basketball games at night while attending local referee camps. Zach received a call in 2003 to join the NBA as a full-time referee, the dream he had been working towards for six years.

Education has always been an important part of Zach's life. He taught high school social studies for four years before becoming a full-time referee and plans to maintain his ties to education and the community by refereeing in public schools to get more young people involved in refereeing, and to communicate to them that there are opportunities throughout the NBA and other sports leagues that don't just involve playing.

Influences: His father, who is an educator in the NYC public school system as well as high school and college umpire and retired NBA referee Ronnie Nunn, who took Zach under his wing and taught him everything he could about basketball and officiating.
Goals: Wants to eventually become crew chief (lead referee) and work the playoffs as well as the NBA finals.
Why New Paltz? "New Paltz made an impression on me when I went to visit during my senior year of high school. The campus was beautiful, the college had a diversity about it that other colleges I visited did not and it was a good distance from New York City; close enough to come home easily, but far enough away to get the college experience of being on your own."

Photos courtesy Times Herald-Record/TONY SAVINO '77