10 Sec Backcourt Count

[johnny d]

Originally Posted by crosscountry55

Simply put, because each individual rule-making body can make whatever rules it wants.

NCAA decided this year that they don't want to penalize the defense for making a play like the one you described. And one thing that makes this kind of rule more objectively sound in the NCAA is the fact that the shot clock (except when it's off) is the basis for the 10-second count; no one can argue what portion of the 10-second count has elapsed.

In NFHS, on the other hand, where there is no shot clock, every official's counting speed is a little different. So a rule like the NCAA rule would lead to a bunch of coaches challenging officials' counts, which is not desirable. So until there is a universal shot clock with well-trained operators nationwide, I don't see this rule trickling down to the HS level.

If you ever worked a lower level NCAA game or a NAIA game, you would know that often, the ability of the person responsible for starting/stopping the shot clock in those games, leaves much to be desired. There are some schools I have gone to where the shot clock is wrong on every possession. They either start it too soon (while the person throwing the ball in still has the ball out of bounds), or they start it too late (the offensive team has already taken 5 dribbles up the court and it still hasn't started). One learns very quickly that it would be a complete waste of time to stop the game and fix the situation at some of those schools because you would be doing this on almost every possession.