Dale Kelley, of Huntingdon, Tennessee, could be considered the ultimate teacher in officiating. As a 21-year veteran of basketball officiating there’s not much in the game he hasn’t experienced – from the local high school level to the NCAA Final Four. His athletic background includes outstanding careers in both basketball and baseball at Bethel College in McKenzie, Tennessee. In 1981, he was inducted into the Bethel College Hall of Fame and in 1985 he received Bethel College’s Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award. Kelley began his officiating career in 1965 at the high school level. He officiated basketball and baseball for seven years including two Girls State Basketball Tournaments and one Boys State Tournament. He was inducted into the TSSAA Hall of Fame in 1998. As an on-court college official, Kelley worked 14 years in the Southeastern Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Southwest Conference and Metro Conference. He worked nine consecutive NCAA playoffs and was selected to officiate in three Final Fours (1978, 1979 and 1980). Currently, Kelley is the Men’s Basketball Coordinator of Officials, overseeing the officials’ coalition formed by the Big 12 Conference, Conference USA, Western Athletic Conference, Sun Belt Conference and Southland Conference. In addition to his sports-related career, he is now in his third four-year term as mayor of Huntingdon. Under Dale’s capable leadership, the town developed and successfully completed a five-field, state-of-the-art sports complex in 1998. In honor of Kelley’s lifetime love for athletics and for his visionary leadership as mayor in providing quality sports facilities for the community, the Huntingdon Town Council named the impressive facility “Kelley Sports Complex”. In 2002, he was named to the Carroll County Sports Hall of Fame.
