[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

It is late at night, I do not have any of my rules books in front of me because I am already packed to leave on Friday for the YBOA Boys' Nationals in Lakeland, Florida, and I intend to go to bed as soon as I make my post.


1) The NCAA addressed this problem a few years ago. I cannot remember off hand which school year, other than to say that the NCAA issued an in-season bulletin detailing the protocol that was to followed for such a situation.

2) Prior to the NCAA in-season bulletin, both the NFHS and NCAA followed the same interpretation. And here is where the interpretation gets murky. I have only antecdotal information from two sources: A rules interpreter from Florida, and arules interpreter from Canada.
While officiating in the YBOA Girls' Nationals in Orlando, Florida, in July 1993, I stopped the game to fix the net. A local rules interpreter told me that was wrong. I asked him what was the correct procedure. He told me that the FloridaHSAA had received an interpretaion from the NFHS that the net should not be fixed until the first naturally occuring dead ball, stopped clock situation.
While attending the 1993 IAABO Fall Rules Interpreters Conference I posed the question (including the information that was giving to me by the Florida rules interpreter) to a group of fellow interpreters at lunch one day. A rules interpreter from Canada told me that the NBCUSC (National Basketball Committee of the United States and Canada, the predessor the NFHS and NCAA rules committees) had issued an interpretaion over 35 years ago that was identical to the information that was giving to me by the Florida intepreter.

As I stated my information is only antecdotal and about the time that the NCAA made its in-season interpretation, I tried to get Mary Struckhoff do an investigation of the NFHS archives to clarify this situation, but nothing ever came of it. And that is where it stands today.

I suppose that this BALD, OLD GEEZER (please read the aaargh! thread) should write to Mary next month and see if she will try to clarify this situation.

Good night everyone. Have a nice weekend.

MTD, Sr.