[JRutledge]

Here is the problem with what you are saying. The rules state that you must play with 5 players if you have that amount of players available. So you cannot play with less than 5 players according to the rules at hand. Before this year it was very clear that this was a Technical foul and there were interpretations to back that up. I called on of these Ts long time ago on a Girl's Varsity game. Then the rule states that we have at the very least a violation or a Technical foul despite what others would like to say. Also what happens if the player is off the court and now realizes they are supposed to be out there and just runs onto the court? According to 10.3.3 Situation B you are going to have to give a technical foul for a player entering the court during playing action. So we have to probably do something. You cannot have a "power play" unless all players foul out and you can only play with less than 5 according to 3.1.1. So either you stop the clock and give the ball back to the team with the ball after you get the proper number on the court. Give a T on Team B because they did not play with the proper number or for leaving the court and taking advantage of a rule by stopping the game. Or you hope and pray that the kid does not enter the court where you will have no choice but to give a T. Or you could act like nothing happen and hope no one notices anything. I am not going to lose sleep over it either way. I just think the NF needs to correct this situation. At least the NCAA only says this is a violation when the player is the first to touch the ball.

Ultimately this is a situation for the Referee to rule on something that is not specifically covered under the rules. So you might find a few different results on this play depending on who is on that game.

Peace