Fifth foul procedure

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by OklahomaRef

I am a referee turned coach. Today in a game, one of my players recieved his fifth foul. I was notified and told I had thirty seconds. I waited for the first horn to put my sub in (it was late and I was trying to freeze the shooter). When the horn went off I was assessed a technical. I thought there was supposed to be a warning at 20 seconds, just like a 30 second time out. Can someone please help?

Originally Posted by OklahomaRef

I do not know if anyone cares but I was not suspended from any games. Also, you may find this interesting. When this happened was in a tournament, we were not playing the host team, but the host coach was there to help "run the gym" whatever that means. When I got the second "T", I turned to him and said, "I get a horn at 20." This guy looked me right in the eye and said that wasn't right. Three days later we go back over there for Varsity, and he tells me that he was right, and I should have been ejected. I cited the rule you guys gave me on here, and after a brief arguement (light hearted), he said I'll prove it's not in there. He gets the book out, I tell him the rule number. It's there plain as day. He apologizes, says he'll write a letter on my behalf if needed. Said all that to say, Thank you to you guys that helped me out.

Thanks for following up on the outcome. I'm glad that something you learned here helped you. If you have other questions or situations and desire some answers we will be here for you.

As for the original situation, I would add that you should remember that the warning horn at 20 seconds was a fairly recent addition to the NFHS rules as it first appeared in the 2003-04 season.
Furthermore, coaches used to be expected to know how long 30 seconds is as they definitely used to get Ts for not meeting the 30 seconds prior to this rule change. Heck, every coach certainly seems to know how long three seconds is; all he has to do is count that off ten times!