MEMORANDUM. December 12, 2018 VIA . TO: NCAA Divisions I, II and III Coordinators of Men's Basketball Officials.

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MEMORANDUM VIA EMAIL TO: NCAA Divisions I, II and III Coordinators of Men's Basketball Officials. FROM: J.D. Collins National Coordinator of Men s Basketball Officiating.

1 MEMORANDUM VIA TO: NCAA Divisions I, II and III Coordinators of Men's Basketball Officials. FROM: J.D. Collins National Coordinator of Men s Basketball Officiating. Art Hyland NCAA Men s Basketball Secretary-Rules Editor. SUBJECT: Bulletin No. 1 December 10, 2018 Teleconference Follow-Up. Because of the importance of this information, we appreciate your consideration and effort in providing this bulletin directly to all officials and head coaches in your conference. We believe that providing this information to each institution demonstrates a continuing commitment to maintaining and improving the officiating in every game. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. This information will also be available on the Coordinator s Meeting section of the men s basketball officiating website at 1. After speaking with all 16 Division I Coordinators of Officials, the Regional Advisors, John Blazek and Jim Haney, I offer the following. Officials are addressing the directive to reduce physicality in order to create freedom of movement with varying levels of success. a. Handchecking/body bumping the ball handler Rule We are allowing physical teams hand check and body bump the ball handlers. Do not let physicality enter back into our game. b. Freedom of movement for players without the ball or cutters. Similar to , we cannot allow physical teams to chuck and bump the ball handler after he gives up the ball. c. Screening make sure all screens are legal. We are addressing screening well. d. Rebounding call displacement fouls. The center and trail need to be more active in rebounding physicality. The lead official is being required to pick up too many rebounding plays. Get to a good position, close down and focus on rebounding.

2 Page No. 2 e. Offense initiated contact on legal defenders. Continue your efforts to not reward offense-initiated contact on legal defenders. Officials should focus on the legality of the defender. If the defender is legal, do not reward offenseinitiated contact. Pay specific attention to drives down the lane lines. It seems to me that less experienced officials are penalizing legal defenders just because the play is ugly. If the defense is legal, do not reward the offense. f. Physical post play call the first displacement. I believe we have made some progress in this area and yet we need to improve our efforts in calling offensive players for straight-arm ward-offs and defensive swim strokes. Bottom line call the first foul. Defaulting to the no call will only encourage physical play. The center official must be active in observing post physicality. In addition, when rotating from trail to center, do it quickly. This may be the only opportunity to see the initial set up in the post. g. The rules committee also gave a directive to give additional focus to the following four areas: (1) Traveling We continue to struggle with traveling. Officials MUST find the pivot foot. We are still having officials not calling obvious travels in the post and on the perimeter. Also, we are having officials call traveling on plays that are not travels. We are inconsistent in adjudicating travel plays and must get better in this area. Positioning is key to getting traveling plays correct. The center and trail must get to a good initial starting position and close down. Finding the pivot foot is a given. (2) Elimination of the hook and hold play After a month of the season, we have come to a good balance in adjudicating these plays. Like we said at the clinics, if you call the obvious hook and hold a flagrant foul they will stop doing it. (3) Screen and roll plays focus on who gets to the position first. Whether it is the offense or the defense they own that spot on the floor. (4) Strict enforcement of the coaches box and bench decorum It is really simple, if a coach is clearly and completely out of the coach s box, issue a warning and subsequently issue a Class B technical foul. Officials MUST engage this process. The one thing we cannot do is ignore bench decorum and coaching box issues. This area requires support by each of the coordinators of officials. We must tighten up this type of action or it will become a problem during conference play. h. Overall, we are making progress on the directive to reduce physicality to create freedom of movement and we must stay diligent in adjudicating all of these directives. If we do our job in the non-conference season, it will make the conference season more bearable for all involved. We have proven that when we blow the whistle our call accuracy is outstanding. I am seeing to many games where we have 6-8 NCI s (no call incorrect) in a game. When you see a foul, call it.

3 Page No Relative to mechanics and signaling, I am asking the coordinators of officials to continue to support the following: a. Proper positioning will enable us to get the calls right. (1) Get to a good initial starting position. (2) Move to get a better angle. (3) Close down to officiate traveling, rebounds and post play. (4) Mirror the ball at the lead position. b. When the play is leaving you, it is entering someone else s primary. This does not mean you don t call a foul when you are 100%. It does mean that you must be aware of diminishing angles when the play is leaving you. c. The center official needs to be aware of post activity when he does not have an active matchup. When rotating from trail to center, the center official must do it more quickly. d. Be aware of situations that require 2-person mechanics. We are making progress on screening plays and often the 2 nd official can make a difference in adjudicating these plays correctly. e. The lead official needs to clear the players, clear the 3-point arc, stop and report fouls to the table. Put some zip into it it is not that hard. f. Officials should protect the shooter all the way to floor. There are many new techniques sneaking into our game. Be sure to see the shooter to the floor. We are seeing a trend slip back into the game where defenders are tipping shooter s arms. Air balls typically just don t happen at the Division I level. g. Our lead official is calling across the paint too often. Our angles are diminished when we do this. Close down, rotate with a purpose and see the whole play. h. If we encourage our officials to stick to the basics listed in the CCA Mechanics Manual, we will do a better job of having the right official in the right position to make the right call. 3. Again, as I spoke to the Division I coordinators this week there were reoccurring plays that I would like to comment on that need our attention: a. Restricted area arc plays continue your efforts in this area. We are making progress. Know your primary and secondary responsibilities on block/charge plays found on pages of the CCA Mechanics Manual. The center official must focus on your area of responsibility when a secondary defender play is happening. Find the restricted area arc and find the feet. It is imperative that the center official offers assistance on restricted area plays.

4 Page No. 4 b. Offense initiated contact on legal defenders: It will take additional focus by each official to more accurately address this issue. Officiate the defense if they are legal do not reward offensive players that initiate contact. c. Arm bars are only allowed in the post area. I am seeing officials allow arm bars outside the post area. See page 101 of the CCA Mechanics Manual for a pictorial of the post area. d. Injured players review page 38 of the CCA Mechanics Manual on court coverages when you have an injured player. Position yourself so that you can see the injured player and the continuing play. Let the other two officials officiate the play at the other end using 2-person mechanics. Player safety must be our #1 priority. e. Reminder to review page 46 of the rules Book for the definition of a flagrant 2 personal foul. Key phrases: the severity of the contact, hard contact to the head or the defender winding up or emphatically following through with contact, the potential for injury while the player is in a vulnerable position, any non-accidental contact to the groin area. f. Monitor reviews I have several comments on this subject: (1) Officials must be aware of the length of time spent at the monitor. Get in and get out! If the game is in the balance, it may require more time to get all of the angles necessary. In addition, the protocol should be: foul called on the floor, report the foul to the table, discuss need for review and then go to the monitor. Stopping to talk with partners for an extended period of time prior to reporting the foul just looks bad. (2) When possible tell the talent the reason you are going to the monitor and the results. Informing them can assist in them representing you and the play well. (3) Don t overuse the monitor. I have seen simple plays being reviewed at the monitor. I understand the need for protection, but we must officiate with instinct. If we are going to officiate by the monitor, we can teach anyone to do that. You are working college basketball because you are good at your craft. Trust your instincts more. (4) Use the monitor when the health and safety of a student-athlete is in question. I have seen several games where we should have gone to the monitor and didn t. Always keep the health and safety of the student-athlete in your mind. (5) Only 2 officials at the monitor at a time. The third official has other responsibilities, see page 147 of the CCA Mechanics Manual. g. Referees and/or crew chiefs: (1) It is time for our lead officials or crew chiefs to step up their game. I have seen several games where the crew took the easy way out. (2) I saw a game recently where a player hit another player in the groin area. The crew determined this was a non-accidental hit. The crew then gave the player a flagrant 1 foul. The rules book

5 Page No. 5 clearly states a non-accidental hit the the groin area is a flagrant 2 foul. When you are the lead official or a crew chief, there are times where you must do the right thing even though it is not popular. The consistency of the game depends on the crew chief s leadership. (3) I also saw several MTE s where we didn t look at the monitor even though we should have. The consistency of the game depends on the crew chief s leadership. (4) When a mid-major or low-major plays a buy game on the road, make sure your crew gives the same level of respect to that coach. To many times, the visiting coach feels they are being treated different especially when it comes to communication. (5) As a lead official or crew chief, stop trying to be a nice guy or looking for the path of least resistance. Officiate the game by the rules of the game and step up. You are being placed in this position of responsibility because of your skill, your instincts and your leadership. It is time for you to LEAD! 4. Art Hyland, Secretary-Rules Editor comments. a. Rule fouls. There has been an increase in infractions which are not penalized during the early part of the season. In particular, keeping a hand or forearm on an opponent and using an arm bar to impede the progress of a dribbler are both creeping back into our game. Enforcement of fouls has been a cornerstone of the rules committee s efforts to reduce physicality, increase scoring and improve the flow of the game. Let s reverse this troubling trend and make sure the game continues to move in the direction that has been successful for the last several years. b. Rule Moving to Maintain Legal Guarding Position. After a defender has established initial legal guarding position by placing two feet on the floor and having his torso face his opponent, the guard may thereafter shift to maintain guarding position provided that the guard does not charge into the dribbler or otherwise cause contact. While maintaining legal guarding position, the guard may move laterally or obliquely as long as he is not moving toward the dribbler. The guard is not required to have two feet on the floor or be facing the dribbler when the contact occurs. The key issue in adjudicating who has fouled in these plays is to determine who has caused the contact. Do not penalize a defender who has established initial legal guarding position and is moving laterally when the contact is caused by the dribbler. c. Rule Leg Tights. We are beginning to receive reports of players wearing leg tights with different lengths to each leg. (one full length and the other just to the knee). I have issued an interpretation indicating that leg tights must be of equal length similar to Rule which requires the sleeves of undershirts to be of equal length. Players are not permitted to play wearing illegal tights.

6 Page No. 6 d. Rule Reset of Shot Clock. (1) The Exception to Rule b states that, When a personal or technical foul or kicking/fisting violation is committed by the defense and the ball is to be inbounded by the offense in the front court, the shot-clock will be reset to 20 seconds or the time remaining on the shot-clock whichever is greater. This rule is an exception to the 30 second reset rule and realistically applies to live ball fouls or violations by Team B while there is team control by Team A. (2) To further clarify the shot-clock resets, I encourage everyone to review the shot-clock reset plays set forth in my memorandum dated November 2, 2017 and posted on Arbiter last year. In addition to those shot-clock reset situations, please note the following: Play-A1 is fouled flagrantly by B1 in the act of shooting. There are 22 seconds remaining on the shot-clock when the foul is called. The try is: a. successful; b. hits the rim but is unsuccessful; or c. fails to hit the rim or flange. After the free throws, Team A will inbound the ball in the front court with the shot-clock reset as follows: (a) 30 seconds- Rule a and.d. (b) 30 seconds- Rule Rule a and.d. The ball is not in team control when a try is in flight. See Rule c. (c) 30 seconds- Even though the try failed to hit the rim, the foul was in the act of shooting. Therefore, Team A lost team control during the try and regained team control by virtue of the flagrant foul. See Rule a. (3) Regardless of the reason for going to the monitor, an official may always assess an undetected flagrant foul on any player as long as it is within the statute of limitations. Rule d.2. e. Comments on Hook and Hold Plays. (1) Hook and Hold plays involve both a hook and a hold. If one or the other is absent, the play most likely does not warrant a flagrant foul unless there is some reason other than the hook and hold to warrant the call. (2) There are many times throughout the course of a game where opponents arms get entangled. Some are accidental and are no-calls. Some are accidental and warrant a common foul being called. If there is both a hook and a hold (in which the player clamps down on the opponent with his arm after a hook), a flagrant foul should be called. (3) Again, in using instant replay to review hook and hold plays, use the following guidelines: (a) If the official calls a foul on A1 and reports the foul to the table, the officials then have 4 options when using instant replay to review the play. (See Rule d.1) i. Remain with the call as a common foul.

7 Page No. 7 ii. Upgrade the call to an F1 on A1. iii. Upgrade the call to an F2 on A1. iv. Remove the original call of a common foul on A1. (b) When officials fail to observe a foul and elect to use instant replay to determine if a flagrant foul occurred, the officials then have 3 options when using instant replay to review the play. i. Assess an F1 foul. ii. Assess an F2 foul. iii. Determine that no flagrant foul occurred. The officials may not determine/penalize a common foul under this rule. f. Rule j Bench Personnel Leaving the Bench. As we get closer to conference play, it is important that we review the rules with regard to players and coaches leaving the bench when a fight may break out. Rule j states that it is an infraction of the rules when Bench personnel leave the bench area when a fight may break out or has broken out. The following guidelines should be used in adjudicating these infractions: (a) Only the head coach may leave the bench area to prevent a situation on the court from escalating. (b) Any player who participates in a fight or any individual who leaves the bench area and participates in a fight shall be charged with a Class A technical foul, ejected from the game and will be subject to the suspension rules of Rule (c) Any individual who leaves the bench area and enters the playing court but does not participate in a fight shall not be assessed any technical foul but shall be ejected. That individual shall not be subject to the suspension rules of Rule (d) The head coach shall be charged with a Class B technical foul for any individual who leaves the bench area and participates in a fight. (e) Please review A.R. 269 and 282 for further clarification of this rule. g. Arbiter Website. An additional item will be added to my site on Arbiter. It will be entitled 2018 In-season Interpretations and will contain rulings for all interpretations that I issue to coaches, officials and others during the season.

8 Page No General Comments/Questions and Answers. a. I want to thank the coordinators for the job you are doing. Our success this season will be solely based on your performance and communication with your officials. Keep up the good work and thank you. We have had a good start to the season. Let s all commit to making this the best season possible. b. Please forward NCAA game evaluations on to your officials. The timing of forwarding them is at your discretion, but I believe the officials need to receive the feedback. c. On behalf of Dan Gavitt, Brad Taylor, Art Hyland and myself, we wish you a happy and safe holiday season. NCAA/12_11_2018/JDC:AH:BLT

MEMORANDUM. January 9, 2019 VIA . TO: NCAA Divisions I, II and III Coordinators of Men's Basketball Officials.

MEMORANDUM. January 9, 2019 VIA . TO: NCAA Divisions I, II and III Coordinators of Men's Basketball Officials. MEMORANDUM January 9, 2019 VIA EMAIL TO: NCAA Divisions I, II and III Coordinators of Men's Basketball Officials. FROM: J.D. Collins National Coordinator of Men s Basketball Officiating. Art Hyland NCAA