Bc?

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by Terrapins Fan

This is a question from the IAABO Refresher.

#5- A1 dribbling in the front court when B1 deflects the ball away from A1. the ball is rolling toward the back court and is picked up by A2 who is straddling the division line. The official rules a back court violation. Is the official correct?

I say YES!. The test answer says NO. rule 9-9-1

SECTION 9 BACKCOURT
ART. 1 . . . A player shall not be the first to touch the ball after it has been in team control in the frontcourt, if he/she or a teammate last touched or was touched by the ball in the frontcourt before it went to the backcourt.

What am I missing. The ball never went into the BC until A2 touched it. BC Violatiuon, right?

Let's keep this simple and just focus on player location. A2 is straddling the division line, so he is touching the backcourt and therefore has backcourt player location.
Now shift A2 such that he is straddling the FT line in the backcourt. He still has the same backcourt player location. If the ball was batted into the air by B1 and flew all the way back to A2 before being caught, would you penalize Team A?

Don't get confused by the optics of the situation. A2 did not last touch the ball before it went to the backcourt. He only was the first to touch it in the backcourt. Therefore, one of the elements of a backcourt violation is missing.