Can't be the first one to touch it?

[Eric Huechteman]

Originally posted by rainmaker
The confusion comes because there IS a rule about touching the ball after your foot has touched out of bounds, DURING A DRIBBLE. The rule is that during a dribble, the ball is out of bounds if your foot touches out of bounds, even if you weren't touching the ball while your foot was oob. That might make it sound as though you can't be the first to touch after having been oob, but this rule only applies during a dribble. On a play sucha s you describe, this rule is meaningless.

I think the confusion comes because a player who inbounds the ball CANNOT be the first to touch the ball. Players, fans, and coaches extrapolate that to apply to all situations.

Here's a question: If a player is running toward the sideline to get to a loose ball, dribbles twice, loses his balance (tapping the ball forward so that it bounces 2 or 3 times), steps out of bounds, comes back inbounds, and continues his dribble, has he committed a violation?

Just after I completed the question, I found the answer. Hehe. Rule 4-15-6d states: "Out-of-bounds violation does not apply on the player invoved in the interrupted dribble."