Question from Missouri

[Vinski]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

Penalized one time for each starter and substitute as per NFHS 10-3-2PENALTY. Must be discovered before the ball becomes live.

See Situation #2 on the 2007-08 Interpretations on the FED web site.

Question regarding this. When it says “Must be discovered before the ball becomes live”, what would be the case if the five starters with illegal uniforms enter the court for the tip-off and the officials don’t notice that the uniforms are illegal before the toss. The ball is then tossed and becomes live and then play goes on for a while. During the next dead ball an official then notices that the uniforms are illegal. At this point can the ref asses the technicals to the five starters or has that time come and gone. To summarize my question, is there a statue of limitations to enforcing this rule? Can the penalty only be carried out if discovered during the first dead ball that the player(s) enter the court?

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by Vinski

Question regarding this. When it says “Must be discovered before the ball becomes live”, what would be the case if the five starters with illegal uniforms enter the court for the tip-off and the officials don’t notice that the uniforms are illegal before the toss. The ball is then tossed and becomes live and then play goes on for a while. During the next dead ball an official then notices that the uniforms are illegal. At this point can the ref asses the technicals to the five starters or has that time come and gone. To summarize my question, is there a statue of limitations to enforcing this rule? Can the penalty only be carried out if discovered during the first dead ball that the player(s) enter the court?

It's only penalized when the player enters the game. So, in your example, the starters would not be penalized until they left the game and then returned. If they never return, they are not penalized.

[Vinski]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

It's only penalized when the player enters the game. So, in your example, the starters would not be penalized until they left the game and then returned. If they never return, they are not penalized.

I see (I think). So, would it be safe to say that a player can only be penalized for the illegal uniform when discovered upon entry onto the court during a dead ball or start of the game/OT, not just any dead ball period? And only once per player, of course.