Falk will close book on long Big Ten association

The Big Ten Conference office recently announced that Coordinator of Men’s Basketball Officiating Rich Falk, a Galva native, plans to retire at the conclusion of the 2009-10 men’s basketball season.

According to The Big Ten’s Web site, the conference office will begin the search process to find a new coordinator of men’s basketball officiating over the next several months.

Falk joined the Big Ten as an assistant commissioner in 1989 after an eight-year stint as the head coach of the men’s basketball team at Northwestern University, his alma mater.

He will manage the conference’s officiating program for a 21st season during the 2009-10 campaign, including the training, assignment and evaluation of all officials.

“Rich Falk has been an outstanding ambassador for the Big Ten Conference for more than two decades,” said Big Ten Commissioner James E. Delany. “Rich has been responsible for one of the country’s top officiating programs while also working with various coaches and administrative groups and providing leadership as we launched our men’s basketball tournament in 1998.”

A graduate of Northwestern, Falk joined the Big Ten after serving as the head coach of his alma mater from 1978-86. As a three-year letterman for the Wildcats from 1962-64, Falk ended his career ranked fifth in school history with 1,001 points. He was named All-Big Ten second-team and the team’s Most Valuable Player as a junior and senior and was also a member of the conference’s first Academic All-Big Ten team in 1963-64.

Falk still stands as Galva High School’s all-time leading scorer with 1,884 points from 1957-60.