Friends of Basketball

John Katzer

Year Inducted: 2001

Category: Friends of Basketball

Schools / Organizations: IHSA
NAIA
CBA
WPBL

Biography: John Katzer of Mount Prospect had a varied basketball background. It began as a player at (Chicago) Waller and St. Michael High Schools, Lake Forest College and Fort Sheridan Army Camp. Katzer was the Public League’s leading scorer with a then-record 264, set a then single-game record of 68 points against Taft and he was an all-league first teamer.  As an official, Katzer was IHSA certified from 1956-95 and drew 45 IHSA Regional assignments. He worked NAIA college games for 15 seasons, spent three years in the CBA (supervisor of officials for four seasons) and three in the Women’s Basketball League, including the first league game (Chicago Hustle vs. Milwaukee Does) and the All-Star game.  Katzer established and conducted the John Katzer Officials Camp for 20 years and was an IHSA certified clinician.  Katzer, a member of the Lake Forest College Hall of Fame (1976), was general manager of the WPBL’s Chicago Spirit (1990) and was a contributing editor – By The Rules Column – for Referee Magazine for nearly 20 years. John Katzer died during 2007 at the age of 80.