Veteran referee Ted Valentine is no stranger to controversy. Ever since he ejected then-Indiana coach Bob Knight from a game in 1998, Valentine has been one of college basketball’s most recognized and villified officials. He is also one of the most respected, which is why he has worked 10 Final Fours in his career, including last year’s semifinal between Oregon and North Carolina.

While most officials prefer to maintain a low profile, Valentine’s exuberance on the court and penchant for confrontation has drawn him much unwanted attention as well as the nickname “TV Teddy.” Most of the time, he has accepted the scrutiny with perspective and relative good cheer. Yet, during a telephone interview with The Fieldhouse Saturday night, Valentine expressed frustration about the criticism he received as a result of his decision to turn his back on North Carolina point guard Joel Berry II during the Tar Heels’ loss at Florida State Wednesday night. He even went so far as to suggest he might walk away from the profession he has worked in for nearly 30 years.

“I’m thinking about retiring,” Valentine said. “I’ve had enough of people blowing up stuff. I think I’ve had a stellar career, and I think it’s time to get ready to walk away.”

According to Valentine, as a result of the incident and the attention it drew, the Big Ten removed him from two games he was assigned to work over the weekend – Friday’s contest between Wisconsin and Rutgers, and Sunday’s game between Ohio State and Michigan State. Valentine said the ACC gave him the option of working Georgia Tech’s home game against Yale on Saturday, but he decided to pass and spend a rare winter weekend at home.

Rick Boyages, the associate commissioner of the Big Ten who supervises officiating, declined comment when asked about the league’s decision to remove Valentine from the games. The ACC’s officiating coordinator, Bryan Kersey, also declined comment, saying in a text message that, “We are aware of the situation and are handling it internally.”

The incident took place with just over seven minutes remaining in the game. Berry appeared to be held by Seminoles guard Terance Mann as he tried to catch an outlet pass which sailed out of bounds. Valentine was standing on the opposite baseline and awarded possession to Florida State. As Berry gathered the ball and walked over to Valentine to argue the call, Valentine put his hands up as if to ask Berry to hand him the ball. When Berry continued to complain, Valentine turned his back and folded his arms. After a couple of seconds, Valentine turned back toward the court, Berry gave him the ball, and the game resumed.

Joel Berry gets held, which leads to a turnover (easy call to miss in transition, BUT) Ted Valentine then refuses to engage Berry in conversation, literally turning his back to him. pic.twitter.com/q8jxDtVhFC — Hayes Permar (@DHPIV) January 4, 2018

Within minutes, ESPN analyst Jay Bilas, who was not one of the broadcasters on the game, expressed his disapproval on Twitter:

Wow. An official in the UNC-FSU game literally turned his back on a four-year player trying to speak with him after a dead ball timeout. And, officials talk about players showing officials up. Ridiculous. — Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) January 4, 2018

Bilas’ tweet, combined with Valentine’s prior reputation, sent the Internet aflame with recrimination. It was a hot topic on sports talk shows and during game broadcasts all day Thursday, which apparently led to the Big Ten’s decision to remove Valentine from the two games over the weekend.

North Carolina coach Roy Williams did not comment on what happened after the game, but he was asked about it on Friday and seemed to give Valentine a pass. “People make mistakes,” Williams said. “It didn’t look good. I don’t think [Valentine’s] intention was there for it to look as bad as it did look.”

Valentine also argued the incident was overblown. “It was just something that happened in the battle of the game. It’s not really worth talking about,” he said. “Everybody reacted to what Jay Bilas wrote on Twitter. He made a comment about something and he didn’t see the whole thing. This is the world we live in. Everybody wants to make you guilty before you’re innocent.”

Bilas, however, countered that he did in fact see the entire sequence. “I was watching the game live,” he said. “It’s unfortunate he feels bad about it, but there’s no question that what happened was inappropriate. Was it a capital offense? No. I wasn’t calling on anyone to be suspended, but when a senior captain addresses an official and the official literally turns his back and folds his arms and looks in the other direction, I mean, I’ve never seen it before.”

Bilas added that for the most part he has a high opinion of Valentine. “Ted Valentine is a great official and he is a great guy,” Bilas said. “I did not make that judgment based on who did it. That’s why I didn’t use anyone’s name. It was based on the action, not the person, and that action done by any official is wrong.”

Valentine explained that he turned away from Berry out of a desire to avoid a confrontation. “I turned my back for one second. I didn’t turn it for the whole time,” he said. “Over the last two or three years, I’ve taken conflict resolution classes. In a conflict resolution class, they teach you to turn away. The ACC is a class league. The people in that league are trying to de-escalate problems. That’s why you don’t see technical fouls called in the ACC a lot.”

Pressed on whether he was really considering retirement, Valentine repeated that he was, although he intends to work the ACC games this week to which he has long been assigned. “I am thinking about walking away from the whole thing because of all the social media,” he said. “First you’re guilty, then you have to prove yourself innocent. I’m just tired of it. I’m a better person, I’m a better referee, I’m tired of being cut on. I really am. So I’m taking this weekend to evaluate, what is it that I want to do? Do I want to go back? Can I put up with this? I’m going to take it one day at a time and see how it goes.”

(Top photo: Andy Mead/YCJ/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)