Dribbler out-of-bounds.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

I must be getting senile but I cannot find a rule reference or casebook play for the following play.

Play: A1 is dribbling parallel to a boundary line. A1 pushes the ball down to the floor and while he/she is not touching the ball steps out-of-bounds and then establishes him/herself completely inbounds before touching the ball again.

I know that this is an out-of-bounds violation. But here comes the but: Does the out-of-bounds violation occur when A1 steps out-of-bounds or when he/she touches the ball again?

When A1 is dribbling a live ball he has player control status and the ball has the same court status as A1. The only time that A1 does not have player control status is during an interupted dribble.

This begs the question as to when the out-of-bounds violation occurs. It would seem logical to rule that the violation has occured when A1 touched out-of-bounds even though he was not touching the ball, but here comes the but again: If A1 steps out-of-bounds and then realizes that he does not want to continue his/her dribble and lets a team mate recover the ball.

One part of me wants to call the violation when A1 touches out-of-bounds and the other part of me wants to wait to see if A1 comes back inbounds and then touches the ball again. I seem to remember a casebook play that was identical to the one above but I cannot seem to find it.

NCAA, NFHS, and FIBA rules are all the same concerning player control and court status of the ball in control of a player but I cannot find the play described above.

I would appreciate any casebook play references from any and all sources. Thanks.

Just email me with them if you like.