6 on the Court -- unnoticed...

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

In all of my scenerios, either all the substitutes reported and were beckoned, (maybe there were mulitple subsitutions and an extra player was inadvertently left on the court) or the officials had no idea who the extra team member was, or how he go there, so a subsitute technical foul is not a rule book soluton (even if it were, we don't know whom to charge it to).

What is the rule for when a player ceases to be a player and becomes bench personnel during a substitution process?

It's in the rules book twice! Rules 3-3-3 & 4-34-3. The moment that the substitute replacing him becomes a player. Now assuming that such entry was legal, that is when the substitute enters the court.

Therefore, if at a stoppage you have five players (A1, A2, A3, A4, and A5) and three substitutes (A6, A7, and A8) legally enter, you now have five players (of which A6, A7, and A8 are three) and three team members (all of which are 3 of the 5 from A1 - A5) who are bench personnel on the court. If one of those three being replaced inadvertently remains on the court when the ball becomes live again, you now have a substitute who did not properly report or get beckoned to re-enter the game. As this individual is properly classified by the rules as a team member who is bench personnel, a substitute technical foul is warranted, if this individual's presence is detected at a later time during a dead ball.