Nike Pro City is respected for the professional players that grace the Baruch College court twice a week, many of them overseas stars. There are also NBA’ers that pay a visit, such as former New Jersey Nets star Richard Jefferson. Ron Artest has come back to play on occasion, too.
Those, however, are brief cameos. Zach Zarba is a mainstay.
Who is Zarba, you may ask? He’s in the NBA, too, a referee who just finished his seventh season in the league.
A Brooklyn product and Midwood HS graduate, Zarba takes after his father, Joe, a former high school and college baseball umpire and junior high school photography teacher.
Zarba played basketball at SUNY-New Paltz, but knew he had no future in the sport with a basketball in his hands. A whistle, well, that was another story.
“I knew I wanted to stay involved,” he said. “Refereeing is something that is either for you or it isn’t. … I always recognized the scope and difficulty of the job even when I was in college. I was raised to respect officials.”
Zarba, 35, began officiating intramural games in college. He immediately took a liking to it. Shortly after graduating from New Paltz with a political science degree, he got his start refereeing an AAU game at Gauchos Gym in The Bronx. He worked his way up to the college ranks, doing ACC, SEC, and Northeast Conference games.
His big break came when Terry Gilbert plucked him out of a camp and invited him to his Pro Ref Development classic. Zarba credits Gilbert with his development, from rules to game management to how to handle himself on the floor. From there, Ronnie Nunn, the league’s director of officials, invited Zarba to the NBA Training Program, and he became an NBA referee two years later after working in the CBA and NBA Developmental League.
“It’s a dream job, really,” the Fort Greene, Brooklyn native. “I have a front row seat to the best athletes in the world. The players and coaches in the NBA are awesome.”
Success hasn’t gone to Zarba’s head. He takes pride in coming back to Nike Pro City every summer, helping referees like him make it. This year, Marat Kogut of Brooklyn and Kain Fitzgerald of New Jersey broke into the league, which brought a smile to Zarba’s face.
“I believe in giving back to what was given to me,” he said. “I believe in training, in getting other guys from the area to the NBA.”
Said Leon Barrett, a college referee who has worked in the NBADL: “More than a good example, he’s a big help to us. I’m on the court with Zach, it makes me step my game up.”
Former St. John’s star Tyrone Grant lauded Zarba for his court awareness and ability to see more than what is directly in front of him. That doesn’t mean Grant won’t argue with him.
“With Zach, I’ll give it to him a little more,” he joked. “He should know what he’s doing.”
Beyond helping officials still learning their way, that’s another reason Zarba enjoys coming back to Nike Pro City so much. He’s challenged to be good, better even. The players, he said, will get on the refs, like it’s the NBA Finals.
“The best thing about coming here is the guys will let you know,” he said. “No matter if it’s your first game or you’re a seven-year veteran in the NBA.”