First Four video request
 

FIRST FOUR -- DAYTON, OH

Tuesday, 3/15/2022
(12) Wyoming vs. (12) Indiana -- Roger Ayers, Nate Harris, Vladimir Voyard-Tadal

Second half: 17:47 to 17:37 remaining. Indiana #0 drives to the basket and scores. While backing away after scoring, he bumps into his teammate #25 and they both fall to the floor on the end line near the Indiana bench. #0 is able to quickly return to his feet and run back to play defense. #25 is a bit slow to get up and substitute #53 leaves the bench and comes several feet onto the court (both of his feet are inbounds as well as inside the three-point area of the court) in an apparent effort to help his teammate get up and return to a defensive position more quickly. He actually does not assist his teammate as #25 is able to rise and begin to move on his own just before #53 reaches his location.

I found this to be an unusual play and worthy of discussion.
Should the action described above be a technical foul on #53?
What if he did help his teammate back to his feet? Would that make anyone more likely to penalize this?
No call was made by the officials working the contest.

Per rule, it is a Class B Technical.

Rule 10 Section 4. Class B Technical Infractions
Art. 2. A technical foul shall be assessed to a coach and/or all bench personnel for the following infractions:
a. Entering the playing court to attend an injured player unless done with permission of an official;

I would treat it like a team entering the court after an apparent game-winning shot, but there's still time left. If he doesn't actually interfere with anything, let it go (with an informal warning, if appropriate)

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I was watching with my wife and I pointed it out to her as a big miss.

There are a few games this weekend that have a lot of big misses and a lot of really odd calls.

Raymond is right. The non-player entering the game without permission should be addressed. Assuming there is no imminent scoring opportunity, the game will be stopped and Indiana #53 will be assessed a Class B technical foul for entering the court without permission.

At the NCAA level, especially in the postseason, players should be aware of what is allowed and not. This is different from a middle schooler running onto the court from the bench without reporting, because the middle schooler probably does not know the rules. I cannot cut the same amount of slack to a college player. While his intentions are understandable (aid the injured player), his intervention on the court could interfere with the game. Thus, the technical foul must be assessed.

Temperature Of The Game ...
 

In my high school game, depending on the temperature of the game, I'm ignoring, giving an unofficial oral warning, or giving an official written warning.

4-48: Warning For Bench Personnel Misconduct

10-5-2: Bench personnel ... must not: Enter the court unless by permission of an official to attend an injured player.

If the bench player does more than the simple touch that we see in the video, and actually helps his teammate up, I would judge this to be a "major" violation and I would charge a technical foul (by rule 4-48, and 10-5-2 Penalty).

Say goodbye to ever working Paul the 6th and DeMatha.

That's fine with me. I never really expected to work the WCAC.

All jokes aside, if there was a less extreme remedy allowed by the rules, I would consider it. However, the rules are all or nothing as written, so a T is the only legal solution here.

There is no written warning to bench personnel under NCAA rules. There are warnings to the head coach for violations of the coaching box rule and warnings for delay to the team (including flop warnings), but no behavioral warnings as in NFHS. Thus, a technical foul is the only way to address this behavior that is provided for in the rules.

Clarification ...
 

Thus, my statement, "in my high school game".

Thanks for the NCAA clarification ilyazhito.

Did they interfere with anything? Were they addressing teammates that were near their bench? Nope to all of that.

Not calling anything. The only thing I might say is something to the coach about them not coming out too far, but I am doing nothing when no one was interfering with play at all. Sorry, not doing it.

Peace

I'm not saying what I would, I'd have to be there. I'm just stating what the rule says.

I was referring to you saying that per rule, it is a technical.

A poster somewhere else mentioned that tournament games tend to be called more by the book, perhaps because the officials are being actively evaluated there.

Even if this was not a national tournament game with video and evaluations determining advancement after every game, I would still call the Class B technical foul, because the extra team member showing up on the court is against the rules and could confuse the players, even though it did not in the OP.

Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda ...
 

Coulda, woulda, shoulda. Bottom line - it didn't confuse anyone.

I don't know if college has the same "intent and purpose" clause that high school has, but it shoulda.