Players run up the court during the 2024 NCAA men's national championship game.

The University of Connecticut men’s basketball team secured their second consecutive NCAA national championship on Monday, overpowering the Purdue Boilermakers in the latter half of the game.

The matchup was anticipated as a clash of the titans between Purdue’s Zach Edey and UConn’s Donovan Clingan. While Edey displayed dominance throughout the NCAA title game, his teammates’ lack of support led to a decisive victory for UConn.

During the first half, a video circulating on social media shifted the focus away from the teams and onto a particular referee who stole the spotlight. With less than nine minutes remaining, as the Purdue Boilermakers advanced down the court, the referee at the bottom of the screen amused viewers by engaging in high knees to stay involved in the action of the NCAA championship game.

The referee in question is none other than Jeff Anderson. This past weekend marked his seventh consecutive appearance at the Final Four as an NCAA referee. Notably, he was also selected to officiate the National Championship game.

Monday night’s game was Anderson’s third NCAA Championship appearance overall. Interestingly, Anderson has a personal history with basketball, having been the all-time assists leader during his playing days at Corning Community College.

It’s uncommon for referees to garner attention, but Anderson’s reputation is positive, and his consistent performance is commendable. Fans can only hope to see more of Anderson officiating NCAA games in the future.

The UConn Huskies Made NCAA History With a National Championship Win Over Purdue

The UConn Huskies are the talk of the NCAA world after they won back-to-back men’s NCAA basketball titles since 2007.

Connecticut became the first Division I men’s college basketball team to win back-to-back championships since the Florida Gators did it 17 years ago.