While doing janitorial work in a gym on work-study program in college, Valentine had observed basketball referees and decided he wanted to be a college basketball referee. He talked with some referees about how to get started in the profession, and took a class. He began refereeing at kids games, later moving up to junior high and high school games. In 1981, he attended a refereeing camp in Bristol, Connecticut run by NBA Hall of Fame member Dallas Shirley. While there, he poured out a cooler of ice water from a window onto sunbathers below the window. Shirley threw Valentine out of the camp for the stunt. A few months later, Shirley offered him a job as a referee.
