NCAA Men's.

When an injured player is down and the opponents have the ball and are heading down the court in transition, when do you stop play? Do you stop play if a) they pull back and start to run an offense or b) do you give them a full a full shot clock to shoot? My interpretation in reading the rulebook is the first option. A colleague of mine disagrees.

This is assuming that the injury is not severe enough to stop play immediately.

Jay

I assume an injured player situation is handled the same in NCAA and High School. I handle it as follows during high school games:

If a player is injured and in danger of being injured further or injuring another I will stop play immediately. If the player is unconscious I will stop the play immediately no matter how the play is developing. If the play is heading to the basket I will let it play until a basket is made or the ball settles in one position.

This is how I have been taught to deal with injured players in high school games. However, I have found that dealing with injured players it is best to use common sense and if you stop a play to protect a player most coaches aren't going to get to upset.

Agree 100%. Judge the severity of the injury, then let play flow to the basket, if going the other way. At the instant they pull it back out or stop going to the basket, kill the play. If the coach complains, just tell him that your primary concern is for the safety of the players, and you'd do the same for his kids. If they can't understand that, tough.

It's almost the same, but not quite.

In both NCAA and FED, if the injury is not severe, then you allow the offense to continue until they stop attacking the basket or until they complete their play.

The difference is in how NCAA and FED interpret "complete their play". In HS, releasing a try completes the play (5-8-2 NOTE. That's from the '03-'04 book. I don't know if the numbers changed this year). So as soon as the shooter releases the try, you blow your whistle for the injury. If the ball goes in, fine; if not, then you resume play with the arrow.

In NCAA, "a play shall be completed when a team withholds the ball from play by ceasing to attempt to score or advance the ball to a scoring position" (5-9-8a, emphasis mine). This means that even after Team A releases a try, if Team A gets the rebound and continues to try to score, you allow play to continue.

It has to be first and foremost the concern for the player. I agree with the other posts in this respect. Stopping the play at any point with an injured player on the court is generally prudent. In practice, if a fast break going the other way is in progress, try to let it go and stop it at the first possible point without disadvantage to the offense. If the player is in a middle of a crowd and there may be further injury of that or another player, stop it NOW.

Jay, you are right.

Here is the exact clip from the NCAA rulebook:
BR-99 RULE 5-9/SCORING AND TIMING REGULATIONS

Art. 8. Suspends play after the ball is dead or controlled by the injured player’s team or when the opponents complete a play after a player is injured.
a. A play shall be completed when a team withholds the ball from play by ceasing to attempt to score or advance the ball to a scoring position.
b. When necessary to protect the affected player, the official may immediately suspend play.

Depends on the severity.

I've seen some officials, and I've done it myself, that will stay with the player if play does not need to be immediately halted. That is, if the player goes down and there's a fast break from the other team, stay with the kid until there's a time to stop the clock. I find this beneficial in the event that if there's a fast break the other way, you're at least there to protect the kid from getting trampled (you might be straightlined and unable to see if you followed the play).

Whatever provides the most safety and less intereference with the game.

New question...what if a toddler strolls onto the backcourt when play is developing in the front court? Stop play dead in it's tracks, or wait for mom to come get him?

Perhaps I'm not understanding you here. A fast break the other way would be from his own team, would it not? In which case you kill it as soon as they gain possession.