By Frank Davis

The Tidewater News

PORTSMOUTH — Retired college basketball referee Larry Rose of Courtland was among eight inducted into the Hampton Roads African American Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday.

Several of Rose’s family members, friends and members of the Franklin Sportsman Association attended the 14th Hall of Fame banquet at Portsmouth Renaissance Hotel. During the banquet, videos featuring inductees were shown and each spoke and thanked those who were instrumental in their lives.

The Hall of Fame honors African Americans who have excelled in athletics and were born, spent formative years, or participated in athletics in the Hampton Roads region.

Rose served more than 36 years as a basketball official. He became an NCAA official in 1976 and an NCAA Division I official in 1982. He estimated that he worked more than 2,300 collegiate games, including four Final Fours.

Rose, who attended high school in Franklin and was a three-sport athlete, went to Hampton University on a baseball scholarship while also playing football as a Pirate. He got started with refereeing at the university by calling intramural basketball.

From there, Rose went on to the Newport News Recreation Department and moved up to more competitive leagues, ranging from the Shipyard League to Peninsula District girls junior varsity games.

An intervention specialist for Southampton High School, Rose retired from referring in 2008. He is now a coordinator of basketball officials for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Rose hires and trains referees and assigns them to games.