Replacing the injured free thrower
 

In my GV game last night, shooter A1 is fouled by B1 and injured, requiring A1 to leave the game. We inform Coach A that the replacement A6 will shoot the free throws. Coach B thinks that Coach B gets to choose A's substitute for the free throws. My partner (with 20-25 years experience NFHS and NCAA) was confused, stating he never heard such a rule. However, I (with 6 years experience from 16 years ago) seem to have some vague memory of a case play or situation where Coach B would get to choose A's substitute for free throws. Is this an NCAA or NBA rule? Is this an old NFHS rule? MTD recently referenced a rule change from 1963, so I'm looking at him! Maybe it's for the case when there is no substitute available? Maybe I'm just as delusional as Coach B?

FWIW, we quickly and correctly allowed Coach A to provide substitute A6 to shoot the free throws. (NFHS Rule 8-2)

It's an NCAA-Men's rule instituted a couple of years ago.

Was Coach B 70 years old?

You are correct, the substitute must shoot the free throws. Team B head coach has no say...ever. As in 8-2, if no sub is available, team captain or coach chooses the shooter from the players on the floor.

The NCAA Men's Rule is a stupid rule and is based upon the NBA/WNBA rule. I could never undstand the logic (oh wait, how silly of me to expect the Rules Comittee to use logic) behind the change especially if the injury was caused by a foul of the injured player's opponent.

MTD, Sr.

It's also an NBA rule (A would only be allowed to pick if the injury was due to a flagrant foul or punching foul).

The rule was made in response to teams allegedly faking injuries to get poor free throw shooters off the line.

If the foul is an FF1 or FF2, the defense does not get to choose the shooter.

Also, it is not a requirement for the injured player to leave the game, that's what really stupid. The first year the rule was instituted there was a game between Kansas/Kentucky, I believe, in which the fouled player couldn't shoot, but he didn't leave the game. I wrote one of my D3 supervisors about that situation and he reiterated that there was no requirement in the rule that the injured player had to leave the game.

I know why, but I just do not buy the implication that so many teams were faking injuries to warrent a change. Lets face it, there are so many coaches that think that a defender has to be "set" to draw a charge, to you think those same coaches are smart enough to have their players fake injuries.

MTD, Sr.

I suspect it was a real issue in the NBA way back when they made that rule -- they faked injuries to use the silly "injury timeout" that the NBA had, why wouldn't they do it to get Wilt off the FT line? (And it was a long time ago that the NBA put that in -- I recall a referee applying that rule to a jr high game I played 30+ years ago. . . A bit unseemly as the junior high is allowed to walk up and down our bench to guess who the worst shooter would be . . .) For college, it does seem to me to be a solution looking for a problem -- but I wouldn't be surprised if the proposed change came about because someone was convinced the other team did exactly that -- anyone know the history?

APG, I believe the injured player who has a sub shoot free throws is also ineligible to return during the game. That's why you have guys shooting with their opposite from usual hand. Trust me, I have it directly from Brent Mussberger....

True unless the foul is a flagrant foul penalty two or a punching foul.