Rule Question: Offensive 3 Seconds

[RangeGunner]

Yesterday, I was playing in a game. One of my teammates was caught under the basket with the ball. He threw a pass that hit a defenders head and bounced back to him. He caught the ball and the ref called 3 seconds.

After the game, the other ref agreed with the call saying that the offensive player never lost possession because no one else had gained it. Thus, when he got the ball back, it was a 3 seconds.This ref said it was high school and college rules.

Was the call correct?