Dribbler goes out of bounds & is first to touch the ball again
 

A1 loses control of his/her dribble and A1 goes completely out of bounds. The ball remains bouncing on the floor (inbounds). A1 re-establishes both feet inbounds and is the first person to touch the ball. Is this play legal?

What rule would make it illegal?

What rule says a player has to get two feet inbounds when out of bounds? :confused:

Hint, there isn't one.

You should throw a flag for illegal touching:D

Don't confuse the throw-in violation where the thrower can't be the first to touch. Your play is a legal play as long as A1's player location is inbounds when he/she touches the ball.

There is a worrisome case here, but it's not this one. The key to your case is the judgment that A1 lost control of the dribble. At that point, A1 can be OOB, return inbounds (something in and nothing out), and then touch the ball legally.

The worrisome case is the one where A1 does NOT lose control of his dribble, but sees that he will go OOB. He stops dribbling, steps OOB, steps back in, and resumes dribbling. That's an OOB violation on A1, who retains player control while dribbling.

How can these two things both be true? :confused:

The other possible violation would be that A1 deliberately ran out of bounds to avoid traffic on the court in his effort to retrieve the ball.

So Much To Say, So Little Band Width ...
 

During an interrupted dribble: Out-of-bounds violation does not apply on the player involved in the interrupted dribble.

If a player's momentum carries him or her off the court, he or she can be the first player to touch the ball after returning inbounds. That player must not have left the court voluntarily and must immediately return inbounds. That player must have something in and nothing out. It is not necessary to have both feet back inbounds. It is a violation for a player to intentionally leave the court for an unauthorized reason.

The dribbler (not an interpreted dribble) 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.

You are where you were until you get where you're going.

Must have something in and nothing out.

Fair question. I mean he just allows the ball to bounce by itself while he steps OOB.

Then I would think he's not a dribbler. Is he?

What ends a dribble?

No one has said that the dribble has ended. It's just interrupted because, as we both agree, he stopped dribbling.

And that's completely legal. There's nothing in the definition of an interrupted dribble that says it has to be an accidentally loss of control.

4-15-5
An interrupted dribble occurs when the ball is loose after deflecting off the dribbler or after it momentarily gets away from the dribbler.

The play you posted is legal.

A Twist In The Plot ...
 

In the original post, yes.

But it is possible for a dribbler, not an interrupted dribbler, to step out of bounds, while not in contact with the ball, which is bouncing in bounds, and be in violation of the out of bounds a rule.

NFHS 9-3-1-Note: The 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.