I just started officiating basketball and one of the things I am unclear about are throw-in locations.

Both the NCAA and NFHS rule books says that (in most situations) throw-ins occur "at the spot nearest where the violation occurs". Of course, this excludes situations where the throw-in will be at the division line like double fouls, technical fouls (for HS), etc.

I know that when the ball goes out of bounds, the location of the throw-in is the spot where the ball went out of bounds. And for violations or fouls that occur considerably far from the end line (e.g. beyond the 3-point line), the throw-in will be from the sideline.

How about for violations and fouls that occur close to the end line, specifically from the free-throw line extended to the endline? Should the throw-in be from the sideline or the endline?

I know that in the NBA, only out-of-bounds situations result in endline throw-ins. All other violations have sideline throw-ins.

I have scoured the NFHS and NCAA rule books from cover to cover for the answer to this but I haven't found any.

Please help, for believe it or not, some of the players in the league I officiate in started questioning the locations of the throw-ins.

This may seem like a small point, but the ball is put into play at the closest spot after double fouls, not at midcourt. That's only for technical fouls (in FED, as you said).

There is a diagram in the FED Officials' Manual. If you don't have the manual, then imagine an straight line that goes diagonally from one end of the FT line to the nearest corner of the court. Now imagine an identical line starting from the other end of the FT line and going to the other corner of the court.

Anything inside the FT circle or inside those diagonal lines is put in play on the endline. Anything outside that area is put in play on the sideline. Notice that there is a little area that is outside the diagonal lines but still inside the the 3-point arc; so you can have a foul inside the 3-point arc, but still put it in play on the sideline.

And yes, of course, we believe that the players in your rec league were questioning this. :)

[Edited by ChuckElias on Oct 17th, 2004 at 12:46 PM]

Chuck is right on with his description. I just wanted to add that the spot throw-in will be at the nearest spot, except when the nearest spot is on the endline inside the lane (when the violation or foul occurs inside the lane or FT circle). In that case, the spot will be just outside the nearest side of the lane. Never have a throw-in directly behind the backboard.

...and where would you spot the throw-in following a timeout?

The same place you'd spot it if there hadn't been a TO.

Just remember that a throw in for most times is at the spot OOB closest to where the ball was when the whistle blew. Use the description of dividing the court that ChuckElias posted and you should not have any questions.