Email From My State Interscholastic Sports Governing Body ....

[Rich]

We (my regular partners and I) already go into a held ball situation with whistles only and only when we get eye contact and know neither of us have a foul or a violation -- only THEN do we go up with the thumbs. Only takes an extra second, but saves us from having differing signals.

I'd rather not have the stop clock signal mandated. Then we wouldn't know if we had a violation or a held ball. Our way works better, IMO. Of course, the NFHS feels that timers aren't capable of stopping the clock with whistles only, so that would never be the preferred mechanic.

We haven't long switched on a backcourt foul in...well, I can't remember how long.