one or two?
 

Player A is bumped out of bounds or goes out of bounds to save a ball whenhe/she returns ... one foot or two feet back on the floor before they can touch it ... high school rules ...

Let's go with the "goes out of bounds to save a ball" one cause if he/she is getting bumped out when he/she goes to save it then I am, more than likely, going to have a foul. It depends on what the player does when he/she saves it. If it is a "controlled" save then no the player can not be the first to touch, but if it is just "bat" or "tap" of the ball back into the court then the player can return and be the first to touch with only ONE foot being on the playing court, but the other foot must be off the out of bounds area.

Rules reference, please...

One, as long as nothing else is touching out of bounds.

No matter what kind of save it is, there is no restriction on first to touch. If by "controlled" save, you mean the player catches the ball and throws it back inbounds, you could possibly have an illegal dribble, but this has nothing to do with in or out of bounds.

I don't think that we've been given enough info to definitively say that the player <b>can't</b> legally be the first to touch the ball back in-bounds on the controlled save. That would depend on what happened with the ball before it went OOB, and we haven't been given that information. For instance, if the player saved the ball back in-bounds after blocking a pass or retrieving an errant pass from another player, it would be legal for him to be the first to touch it--whether it was a controlled or uncontrolled save.

Johnny, we need to know the circumstances-- re: how the ball went OOB --before your question can be answered properly.

RTFP, JR! :p

Johnny didn't ask whether it was legal or illegal for the player to be the first to touch the ball. btaylor was the one who brought that up.

All Johnny asked was how many feet does the player have to have inbounds before he touches the ball. As others have stated the answer is something in and nothing out.

Thanks NevadaRef ... one foor two feet is all I am after.

#1
Player A (Team A) jumps from inbounds to save a ball ... player A throws the ball off the back of Player B (on Team B) ... the ball drops to the floor but inbounds ... how many feet does Player A have to have back inbounds before Player A can touch the ball?

#2
Player A is dribbling up the sideline and closely guarded ... there is contact, but no whistle ... Player A goes out of bounds - can Player A return and continue the dribble if so - one foot or two?

#3
Player A leaves the court in the course of play (lets say trips and falls OOB or dives for the ball but does not touch) - Player A never touches the ball ... Player A returns - one foot or two feet?

I am certain that its always going to be one or two and never vary from that, but you now have a better picture of the plays - hopefully.

There is no circumstance where two feet inbounds are required. To be inbounds a player must have something touching inbounds and nothing touching out of bounds. When a player is not touching the court he is considered to be where he last touched. Your play #2 provokes a discussion we have had at length before. In 9-3 there is a note which says that a dribbler has committed a violation if he/she steps on or outside a boundary, even though he/she is not touching the ball while he/she is out of bounds.
If we assume that the contact caused an interrupted dribble, A can return and continue the dribble. One foot would meet this requirement, so long as the second foot does not touch out of bounds after the dribble is restarted.

This one is going to depend on what your "player A" is doing at the time of stepping out of bounds. If the contact has caused him to lose the dribble, then all he needs to do is get one foot back inbounds. If, however, he is still dribbling the ball, then he is OOB as soon as he touches the sideline - whether the ball is directly in contact with his hand or not.

The answer to all of these is ONE FOOT!!

Technically, that's not the answer. The real answer is something in and nothing out as I posted above. The reason that is true is the player could be sitting on his butt with his legs raised above the floor and the feet hanging in the air above the out of bounds area. This player would be inbounds.

So, truely, it is not necessary to have one foot be inbounds.

Or standing on one hand in bounds while he catches the ball with the other hand?

I might have to stop and applaud that. :)

Now, if that player is sufficiently strong to "hop" down the floor on that one hand while holding the ball, is it legal? :p