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 Change of plans Scrapping 'held ball' rule among Rules Committee changes
Posted: Friday May 07, 1999 10:39 PM
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) -- The so-called "held-ball" rule for men's college basketball has been rescinded, the NCAA announced Friday. The rule, used for the first time last season, gave possession to the defensive team when it created a held-ball situation. It was rescinded after the Men's Basketball Rules Committee met this week in Kansas City, Mo. "We felt that it [the rule] didn't serve the purpose for which it was intended," said Air Force coach Reggie Minton, chairman of the rules committee. "This was the feeling of the committee, as well as that of the majority of the feedback that we got from coaches, the media and the public." The game will go back to use of the alternating possession arrow in all held-ball situations. The arrow replaced the jump ball for all but opening tipoffs in regulation and overtime beginning in the 1981-82 season. Other changes in the men's rules include allowing the NCAA Basketball logo to be placed anywhere on the team jersey that does not interfere with number recognition, and a change in the status of an airborne shooter who is fouled after the ball is released. Under the old rule, a player was considered in the act of shooting until both feet touched the floor. The new rule changes that to one foot. The men's and women's rules committees both adopted a timeout rule change used experimentally last season in an attempt to speed the end of games. The rule calls for so-called "television timeouts" every four minutes. Teams will have five shortened timeouts of 30 seconds each, replacing the previous 20-second timeouts. Four of the mini-timeouts may be carried over to the second half. Teams will have no full timeouts, but the first mini-timeout called by either team will become a full, 75-second timeout. "This should reduce breakaways from the game in the last few minutes," Minton said. "This will be good for both the fans in the arena and those watching on television." Also, both committees adopted rules adding such items as laser pointers to the list of administrative technical fouls. Use of an artificial noisemaker while the ball is in play will also be a technical foul, as will a home team's failure to have a continuous 2-inch wide halfcourt line and a 2-inch-wide continuous center-circle line on its court. Both committees adopted another experimental rule from last season as well, moving the players in the two inside free-throw spaces an additional 2 inches from the end line. The women's rule limits the number of players on the free-throw lane to five. "Congestion in the lane can be a major problem," said Barbara Jacobs, coordinator of women's basketball officiating and sports administrator for the Big East Conference. "Allowing only five players in the lane will help clean this up." Uniform numbers 1 and 2 will also be legal for both men's and women's games, and both rules committees clarified the rule on administration of a correctable error. In most cases, play is resumed from the point at which a game is interrupted to correct the error. The exception added this week covers situations in which a free throw is awarded and there has been no change in possession since the error was made. In that case, play will resume after the free-throw attempt.
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