NCAA Backcourt
 

Is the rule different than NFHS? 2 minutes left in the Arkansas Pine Bluff vs. Texas Southern game a throw-in pass was caught by the airborne player who then landed with his first foot in frontcourt followed by the second foot in backcourt. Violation was called.

Same rule
 

There is no difference between ncaa/nfhs here because as soon as the player touched the front court with his first foot he established FC status and has violated. If he had landed with his first foot in the back court then it would not be a violation.

not true

On a throw in, the player catching the pass can land normally and it is not a violation no matter which foot comes down first.

Actually, you are correct. I was thinking about a case play that involves a deflection which would have ended the throw in but that is not what happened in this game.

Perhaps the official was from Texas. :D

NFHS 9-9-3:

During a jump ball, throw-in or while on defense, a player may legally jump from his/her frontcourt, secure control of the ball with both feet off the floor and return to the floor with one or both feet in the backcourt. The player may make a normal landing and it makes no difference whether the first foot down is in the frontcourt or backcourt.

Since I retired for officiating college ball after the 07-08 season, I sometimes do not pay as close attention to detail as I use to. While the NFHS and NCAA wording of the rule is the same, it seems to me that your play as described is correct under NCAA interpretation and incorrect under NFHS interpretation. It is late and I need to get to bed, but I hope that one of our active college officials will join the discussion.

MTD, Sr.


P.S. I am may be incorrect in wanting to believe that there is a difference between the NFHS and NCAA ruling in this play but there is a throw-in play involving the backcourt exception which has a different rulings for NFHS and NCAA. Dang it is heck getting old, LOL.

You can browse to the play here: ESPN3 -- Arkansas Pine-Bluff vs. Texas Southern.

NCAA Rule 9, Section 13, Art. 10.

After a jump ball or during a throw-in, the player in his front court, who makes the initial touch on the ball while both feet are off the playing court, may be the first to secure control of the ball and land with one or both feet in the back court. It makes no difference if the first foot down was in the front court or back court.

The play described would not be a violation under NFHS or NCAA rules or NBA rules if inside of two minutes of the 4th/OT.

You should realize that not everyone can view video on that site.

He gerts a 10 out of 10 selling the call.:D
He gets a 0 out of 10 knowing the Rule!;)

That means the crew made two mistakes on that possession.

First: when the ball came inbounds in APB's backcourt the shot-clock didn't start properly. APB gained control with 2:17 remaining in the half and the ball went OOB in the frontcourt with 1:51 remaining, meaning there should have been nine seconds remaining at the time of the second inbound. There were 12.

Then on the second inbound the violation was called incorrectly.

And another...no one noticed that the game clock didn't run when the missed FT that led to the inbound situation at 2:17 was tapped OOB. But who's counting, right?

Interesting that this comes up -- during the week that the NCAAW quiz is on BC violations. The quiz includes three videos -- at least one of which was called incorrectly during the game (I can't remember how the others were called)

NevadaRef:

The throw-in play I am thinking of is: A2 catches A1's throw-in pass while airborne jumping from Team A's Front Court. A2, before returning to the playing surface, passes the ball to A3 who is standing in Team A's Backcourt.

I do believe that the NFHS ruling is different from the NCAA ruling.

MTD, Sr.

Since I'm bundled up nicely in a blanket, while the polar vortex takes its toll on me, instead of going to the rule book I'm just going to ask.

I suppose my laziness is also part of the reason I'm not looking it up myself, but I digress.

Is it correct to say that the player may have FC status, since he/she jumped from the FC, but the ball didn't? For that reason you can't have a BC violation?

So in order for a BC violation to occur, the player that catches the ball would first have to pivot and put both feet on the floor in the FC. Then he/she would have to touch the division line or put a foot into the BC.

Unless he/she started dribbling while straddling the division line, in which case all three points (both feet and the ball) would have to touch the FC. Then, any of the three points would have to touch the division line or BC to violate.

Did I get it, while at the same time staying warm?

Take a look at NF Case Book 4.4.1 : If a player catches the ball with both feet on the floor, one in the frontcourt and one in the bacvkcourt, and then lifts the foot that is in the backcourt, and then puts it back on the floor in the backcourt, it is a backcourt violation.
The would apply in any case in which the ball is legally held by the player, and his/her feet are straddling the division line.

Those two paragraphs are incorrect.

Bob is right.
The reasons which the two statements are incorrect are:
1. By rule, the airborne player has frontcourt status since that is where he last contacted the court. When this player touches the ball, it now also has frontcourt status. If this player catches the ball and then touches the backcourt when landing, the ONLY reason that this action isn't a violation is because 9-3-3 specifically makes an exception for it.

2. A player HOLDING the ball doesn't have to put both feet into the frontcourt to have FC status and make the ball also have FC status. The player need merely be touching the frontcourt and NOT touching the backcourt. Thus one foot in the FC and the other in the air is sufficient. See the rules on player location and ball location. As you note elsewhere in your post, it is different for a dribbler.

Gotcha. Thanks, guys.

When it comes to some rules it's better if I talk to other officials. The rule book can sometimes be tough for me to understand, so getting it "in English" is better.

Hey... I almost got it. ;)

If I recall previous discussions on this forum, you are correct. For that particular situation: NFHS = violation, NCAA = no violation.

BC in NFHS, is it legal in NCAA?

On the nfhs side the case play is 9.9.1 E

Adam and NevadaRef:

See what happens when you get "old"? You have too much information to process. LOL

Thanks for confirmation. That was the play I was thinking of when I originally posted about a NFHS/NCAA difference in the OP of this thread.

MTD, Sr.

Illegal on NCAA Men's side.

How is this legal in NCAA-W, then? The BC rules are exactly the same between M and W, to my knowledge.

Maybe I lost track of this post.

It is illegal for airborne front court player A1 to catch the throw in and pass it to his teammate A2 who is standing in the back court.

That is a violation.

There used to be (iirc) an AR to that effect in NCAA.

I don't see it in the current book.

Back court
 

What is the purpose of the back court violation/rule?

To keep the game in the front court.

In the days before a shot clock, the team with the ball would have had a much easier time running out the clock if they had the entire court to work with. Imagine 4-corners being played with the entire court. The defense wouldn't have had much of a change to steal the ball.

I know am responding late to this particular post, but HawkeyeCubP, I can only guess that you are not married, :p.

MTD, Sr.

It long precedes the shot clock as a way of preventing a team from using the full court to endlessly stall and giving the defense a fair chance to force a turnover.