Eddie F. Rush is a professional basketball referee

Official (basketball)

In basketball, an official is a person who has the responsibility to enforce the rules and maintain the order of the game. The title of official also applies to the scorers and timekeepers, as well as other personnel that have an active task in maintaining the game...

 in the National Basketball Association

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

 (NBA). As of the 2006–07 NBA season, he had officiated 1,245 regular season, and 140 playoff games, including nine NBA Finals games.

Early life

Rush attended W.H. Spencer High School in Columbus. At Spencer, he played basketball and baseball. Following high school, he attended college and graduated from Georgia State University

Georgia State University

Georgia State University is a research university in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Founded in 1913, it serves about 30,000 students and is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities...

 in 1983.

Officiating career

Prior to joining the NBA, Rush worked high school games for ten years before progressing to college and professional basketball leagues. At the collegiate level, he officiated for eight years in the Big Ten

Big Ten Conference

The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...

 and Southeastern Conference

Southeastern Conference

The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...

s, as well as Conference USA

Conference USA

Conference USA, officially abbreviated C-USA, is a college athletic conference whose member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports...

. He worked First Round games in the 1991 and 1992 NCAA Tournaments. Later he officiated for five years of Continental Basketball Association

Continental Basketball Association

The Continental Basketball Association was a professional men's basketball league in the United States, which has been on hiatus since the 2009 season.- History :...

 officiating experience.

Eddie F. Rush is no relation to long-time NBA referee and former Supervisor of Officials Ed T. Rush

Ed T. Rush

Ed T. Rush is a former professional basketball referee. He joined the NBA as a referee in 1966. In 1973, he left for the American Basketball Association, but returned to the NBA when the ABA merged with that league in 1976. Rush became the NBA's director of officiating in 1998, and served in that...

.

Eddie F. Rush is the only NBA ref to have officiated the last game of the NBA Finals for four straight seasons (2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008).

External links

• National Basketball Referees Association