NCAA Allows Review of Shot-Clock Violation, Out-of-Bounds Calls in Last 2 Minutes

by Fitzgerald Cecilio

Indianapolis, IN

Game officials can now review a shot-clock violation or out-of-bounds calls in the last two minutes of regulation and overtime to ensure that they are made correctly.

Aside from that, the NCAA rules committee also voted to adjust the elbow-clearing rule and block/charge clarification during a three-day meeting in Indianapolis.

These rules will go into effect for the 2013-14 season if approved by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel, which will meet on a conference call on June 18.

"We felt that two minutes was better than one minute," rules committee chair John Dunne said of the two-minute review rule. "Obviously, a possession with 1:10 left is just as important as one with just under a minute left."

Art Hyland, secretary editor of the men's rules committee, said the review has been approved to avoid controversial endings like what happened during the Vanderbilt-Kentucky game in Nashville, Tennessee in January.

During the game, Nerlens Noel hit a jumper with 17.3 seconds left that went in after the shot clock buzzer went off. It gave the Wildcats a 60-55 lead and put the game out of reach.

"We didn't have that rule to check to see if the ball had left the shooter's hands in time," Hyland said. "Now you can do that in the last two minutes."

Under the new rule, officials can go to the monitor immediately in the final four minutes of a game and overtime to see if a shot was a 2- or 3-pointer.

"This will allow officials to finish the game correctly," Hyland said.

Hyland said the change to the elbow rule gives officials the opportunity to adjust if the player is making a basketball play and inadvertently hits a player.

"An official can call a flagrant foul 1, a flagrant foul 2, a player control foul, or if the official goes to the monitor, he can wipe the foul away if he sees no contact," Hyland said.

In explaining the change in block/charge call, Hyland said the defensive player cannot move into the space once the offensive player has started his upward motion with the ball.

However, the committee did not get enough support to even vote on reducing the 35-second shot clock.

Dunne said that surveys of coaches in Division I, II and III failed to bring a consensus on whether to change the shot clock.

"There wasn't a vote taken since it was a 50-50 split, so we felt it wasn't the right time to go in that direction," Dunne said.

NCAA Allows Review of Shot-Clock Violation, Out-of-Bounds Calls in Last 2 Minutes