Although I don't work NCAA games, an article in the latest Referee Magazine piqued my interest. It said the NCAA has clarified its definition of "team control" this season to mean that there is team control during a throwin (NCAA 4-13-4b). The reason, apparently, is so that a foul committed by the offense during a throwin would be considered a team control foul and not result in free throws. OK - that makes sense to me.

It went on to state that, on a throwin, if the ball is tipped but not controlled by the first player on the court to touch it, team control still exists during the loose ball until it is controlled (for the same purpose - a team control foul being committed).

Here's my question: if there is team control during a throwin, and A1 (in frontcourt) throws the ball in to A2 (also in frontcourt) from OOB and it deflects off A2 into the backcourt where it is first touched by a member of team A - is this now a backcourt violation?

It seems all 4 elements are there, if you consider initial touch by A2 as having established frontcourt status for the ball.

Is there an exception for this, or is it a violation?

There's an exception.

Here's what it says on the NCAA web site. Click on Sports & Championships, then on Basketball, then on Major Rule Changes for 2004. Last year, if there was a thrown in by A, the ball was tipped by A1, then secured by A2, a foul committed by A3 would be a team control foul before the ball was tipped, not team control after the balled was tipped but before it was secured, then team control again after the ball was secured The reason for this was the language defining team control foul as "a common foul that is committed by a member of a team that has team control or is in possession of the ball during a throw-in." The throw-in ends when the ball is tipped, but there there is no team control at that point. Here's the announced change. We'll have to wait to see exactly what language goes into the rules, and what additional confusion this creates. :)

Rule 4-13.4.b (page 60)-There will be team control on a throw-in from out of bounds, but unlike other team-control situations, the throw-in team can cause the ball to go into the back court (i.e., no violation) and the three-second lane violation count would not be in effect until the throw-in ended. The rationale is to simplify the rules governing the throw-in and the team-control foul, which was created for the 2002-03 season.