The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel on Thursday approved adding a one-game suspension to the ejection of women’s basketball players, coaches or bench personnel who make physical contact or threaten referees.
The rules book already defines a violation as occurring when anyone “disrespectfully contacts an official or makes a threat of physical intimidation or harm, to include pushing, shoving, spitting or attempting to make physical contact with an official.”
Women’s Basketball Rules Committee members proposed the rule change, which will take effect next season, with hopes that a suspension could help deter such behavior toward officials.
In January, the Playing Rules Oversight Panel issued a directive to all NCAA rules committees to review their sportsmanship and ethical conduct rules.
Expanded video review
Panel members also approved expanding video replay review to include whether a player’s foot last touching the court was inbounds on a made shot before time expired.
Since these plays are automatically reviewed to see whether the shot was released before time expired, panel members agreed with the Women’s Basketball Rules Committee that this change gives officials another tool to get the call right.
If the player’s foot is determined to be out of bounds, officials will put the exact time of the violation on the game clock.
However, if the shot is made and time remains on the game clock, a video review will not occur.
Previously, officials could not review whether a player’s foot was out of bounds prior to releasing a shot before time expires unless an out-of-bounds call was made by an official on the floor during live play.
Also, in instances where an off-ball foul is called near the time a field goal or free-throw attempt is occurring, officials will have to immediately conduct a replay review to judge whether a basket should count.
This is an adjustment to last year’s rules change that provided for the review of defensive fouls to be conducted during the next electronic-media timeout. The Women’s Basketball Rules Committee felt that it was more consistent for all replay reviews to be conducted at the same time when determining whether the field goal or free throw should count.