Had a friend call me last night, who does both H.S. and college ball, to ask me a rules question regarding a situation he had in a college game. He also asked if I could pose the question "on that forum you go to" to verify the answer.
So here goes:
3-person crew...Team A had control of the ball, but player A1 lost the ball and a mad scramble insued for the ball. Coach A requested a TO and U1 blew his whistle to grant the TO while the ball was in no players control. The R came in and said the crew could not grant the TO because the ball was not in control of anyone. Therefore, the R said U1 had an inadvertent whistle and would go to the possesion arrow since the POI was a loose ball.
My friend, who was U2, said he didn't think this was right. He thought that since the whistle was blown to grant the TO...the crew just had to "eat it" and give the TO to Team A. He wants to know what the correct procedure is for this...again NCAA rules.
NFHS Case play 5.8.3 Sit E covers an official erroneously granting a TO. RULING: The team is entitled to use the TO since it was granted.
But, what about when you have an official running in and saying the whistle was inadvertent...such as was the case in the above college scenario?