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AUSTRALIA’s most experienced referee, Michael Aylen, is first among a key and significant NBL move to appoint a team of fulltime officials for 2016-17.

The move to assign a group of referees to fulltime roles is believed to be the brainchild of new NBL referees boss Scott Butler and has long been overdue for a league endeavouring to improve all areas of its professionalism.

Aylen was unavailable for comment today but his job as Basketball SA’s competitions manager is being advertised and the state association has indicated his next destination is in a fulltime NBL umpiring capacity.

Married to one of SA’s top referees Michelle (nee Dyson), Aylen has been living in Adelaide and will retain it as his base.

He has been responsible for the state’s elite competitions and formally concludes his role on September 10 with the Premier League grand finals.

Expected to stay on for a further two weeks to settle in his successor, Aylen’s appointment suggests an NBL announcement must be extremely close.

The talented whistleblower is an eight-time winner of the NBL’s Referee of the Year award, including six straight wins to 2015 before Vaughan Mayberry pipped him for the 2016 prize.

Aylen also has officiated at three FIBA World Championships and three Olympic Games.

At Athens 2004, he had the quarter-final between the USA and Spain, in Beijing in 2008 he was elevated to the semi final between USA and Argentina before landing the Gold Medal game at the London Olympics.

Arguably the best referee in Australia, Aylen is highly-respected for his commonsense officiating and approachability, not to mention sense of humour. He is expected to be in the vanguard of a crew which will travel to selected games, negating any hometown bias while also helping to elevate the standard of local officials.

Expect an NBL announcement soon because this is one of the genuine milestone decisions in the league’s 37-year history.