Girls Just Want To Have Fun (Cyndi Lauper, 1979) ...

[ilyazhito]

Non-jumpers who are on the circle may move off the circle, but non-jumpers who are off the circle may not move onto the circle until the jump ball is touched. Jumpers cannot catch the tossed ball, tap the ball before it reaches its highest point, touch the tossed ball more than twice, or leave the circle until the jump ball ends (it is touched by (or touches) a non-jumper or an official, it hits the floor, backboard, or ring, or goes out of bounds).

It would also be interesting to actually officiate a jump ball that is not in the center circle, because the current 3-person mechanics for a jump ball are designed for center-circle jump balls (the Umpires stand diagonally across from each other on opposite sides of the Referee (the tossing official)). Would the Referee still toss the jump balls outside the center circle, with Umpires in the usual configuration, or would there be different positions (such as the non-tossing officials at Lead and Trail tableside, with the tossing official as Center Opposite)? The 2-person mechanics for non-center circle jump balls would also have to be developed (U might be closer to the table than R, to properly start the clock). I'd be interested to see what NBA, or old NFHS/NCAA manuals from the time when jump balls were still a thing, do to address jump balls outside the center circle.

The only question is would NFHS seriously consider a proposal to re-institute the jump ball for situations other than the start of a period/overtime.