The NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee recommended a number of changes Friday including tweaks to the blocking/charging call and conditions on how it’s called, a relaxation of jersey number restrictions and various other changes. Recommendations from the committee will go to the Rules of Play Oversight Committee for review on June 8. It will apply to the 2023-24 season if ratified.
Among the proposals, the block/fee change stands out as the most impactful potential proposed change. Right now, the defenders need to be in a position to pull a charge before the attacking player goes into midair. The new rule requires defenders to be in position early on – before the attacking player has even set foot to jump. from National Collegiate Athletic Association:
If the defender reaches after the offensive player has placed his foot to launch towards the basket, the umpires will be instructed to call a block when contact occurs between the players.
A secondary defender must still be outside the restricted area arc to charge legally.
The recommendation came after the rules committee received feedback from members that “a lot of fees are being called” on the types of plays previously described because the rules are formally written. When considering the changes, the NCAA Rules Committee said, not only can the number of counts called be reduced, but also “give officials more time to manage these plays.” Player safety was also considered.
“Our goal is to try to reduce the number of charges that are called,” said Rick Barnes, Tennessee coach and commission chairman. “We want to give more time for the attacking player to adapt to the movement of the defensive player and to reduce the hard collisions that happen.”
The NCAA will also consider giving the offensive player a time out even if the player is airborne. Another modification of the timeout rules under consideration is to force a timeout on a team if the original call on the floor was challenged by the coach and not overturned when the clock is under two minutes.
A new proposal that would allow players to wear any number between 0 and 99 will also go to the rules of play monitoring board for review. For decades, the NCAA restricted jersey numbers to double digits starting with 6, 7, 8, and 9.
Other proposals that will be sent to the Rules of Play Stewardship Committee for review later this summer include:
- The optional base allows live/pre-loaded video to be transmitted to the seat area. This has been an experimental base for the past two years.
- Officials will be able to review target interference/interference basket calls during the next informative timeout to ensure the calls are accurate, as long as the official calls it on the ground. If there is a foul on the shooter while the ball is in the air with an overlap in the direction of the goal/basket, the review is immediate to properly adjudicate on possible free throws.
- Non-student substitutes will be allowed to act as peacekeepers when an altercation occurs.
- Under two minutes, when a coach calls for an out-of-bounds play review, that team will be charged if the original call is not overturned.
- Any time the ball hits the rim and the offense maintains possession in the front field, the shot clock will be reset to 20 seconds.
- If a player is called for a foul, and the officials deem the foul to be a direct result of a flagrant 1 or flagrant 2 foul against the player that was originally assessed as a foul, the officials will be allowed to remove the foul on the player who committed the gross foul.
- A timeout can be awarded when a player has possession of the ball even though the player is airborne. (An example would be a player catching a loose ball and calling a timeout before landing out of bounds.)
- If a player commits three blunt fouls 1 in a game, the player will be eliminated from the game.
- Players are allowed to wear numbers from 0 to 99.
- Schools will no longer have to make a concession for players to wear religious headgear, provided it is safe to compete.
- Red and amber lights will be allowed on the back panel.