OCTOBER, 2012 | VOL. 2
New rules go into effect for winter sports By: Greg Johnson | Publish date: Oct 12, 2012 • S econdary defenders (help defenders) moving forward or to the side are also in violation and those should be blocking fouls.
College basketball season officially begins today, but college referees have been preparing for the season for weeks. NCAA National Coordinator of Officials John Adams and SecretaryRules Editor Art Hyland have been conducting educational sessions at regional rules clinics to help college basketball referees to make charge/block calls more accurately this season.
• C ontact that is “through the chest” is not de facto proof of a charge. The rule in its entirety must be considered before determining a foul.
• In some cases, it appears a defender is being rewarded solely When evaluating the officials who worked the 2012 Division I for being outside the restricted-area arc, without considering Men’s Basketball Championship, Adams said officials made the the other aspects of the rules. right call around 90 percent of the time on all infractions. However, on charge/block calls, Adams said the accuracy rate was about 65 Before the 2011-12 season, a restricted-area arc three feet from percent. the center of basket was added to the rules. That is the area on the That’s natural, Adams said, given the nature of the play. He floor where a secondary defender cannot legally take a charge. evaluated more than 100 charge/block calls from the 2012 tournament and found about 25 percent to be inconclusive, even Being outside the arc isn’t the only factor an official should consider when making a charge/block call. on slow-motion replay. “And I’m looking at these plays in a sterile, controlled environment with no one around, “ Adams said. “I can’t tell whether it was the right call or not on a quarter of them. The size of our court hasn’t changed, but look at how much bigger and faster the players are. They are trying to get to the same spot, and it is hard to tell who got there first in so many cases.”
Adams wants to see improvement on plays involving secondary defenders in or near the restricted area by ensuring communication between the official making the call and the center official, who is not making the call but is close to the play. Adams wants the center official to feel empowered to approach the calling official with definite information relative to the position of the defensive players involved.
To improve the accuracy rate on those calls, men’s officials are being asked to apply the following guidelines, which the Men’s “We want our officials to have a better understanding about what is and what isn’t legal guarding position,” Adams said. “Once a Basketball Rules Committee approved in May: player establishes legal defensive guarding position, we want our • B efore the offensive player (with the ball) becomes airborne, officials to understand what that defender can do to maintain it.” the defender must have two feet on the floor, be facing the opponent and be stationary to draw a charge. Otherwise, it The best way for officials to become better at making these calls is through educational efforts at the regional clinics and gaining should be a blocking foul. experience by officiating more games, Adams said. Continued on Page 4
COMPLIANCE STAFF Nicole Green, Assistant Athletic Director
Joel Vickery, Director of Compliance
Ryan Crews, Compliance Assistant
Jon Michalik, Graduate Assistant
ngreen@memphis.edu
jhvckery@memphis.edu
rcccrews@memphis.edu
jmchalik@memphis.edu
570 Normal Street | Memphis, TN 38125 | Office: 901.678.2088 | Fax: 901.678.1653 OCT 2012 | VOL. 2
Hamline course dissects art and science of recruiting By: Greg Johnson | NCAA.org | Publish date: September 25, 2012 Any collegiate coach will tell you it isn’t always about the Xs and Os. It’s more about the Rexes and the Joes. That’s right— recruiting prospective studentathletes is the life blood of any college athletics program. To help develop that aspect of the job, Stephen Brennan has created an 11–week, online graduate class through Hamline University called “The Art and Science of College Athletic Recruiting.” As many recruiting services as there are out there, Brennan is one of the few people
who preaches the practice. The class targets high school coaches who aspire to coach in college, and current men’s and women’s collegiate assistant and head coaches who are seeking postgraduate degrees. Brennan has specialized in developing best practices in recruiting since 1993. That’s when he started the Recruiters Institute, which offers seminars on ways to build a recruiting philosophy. In those tutorials, coaches are enlightened to best-practice concepts in recruiting and updated on rules changes by compliance personnel from college campuses.
He is also the founder and president of Peak Performance Consultants, which specializes in motivation and education, including teaching mental preparation and performance-enhancement strategies to coaches, athletes, educators and business people. Speakers at Brennan’s seminars have included Indiana head men’s basketball coach Tom Crean, Nebraska head women’s volleyball coach John Cook, Florida head women’s volleyball coach Mary Wise and Connecticut assistant women’s basketball coach Chris Dailey. Seth Greenberg Continued on Page 4
EDUCATION Photographs as Attachments to General Correspondence and Electronic Transmissions (I) Date Published: October 10, 2012 | Item Ref: 2 NCAA Division I institutions should note an institution may send a photograph to a prospective student-athlete as an attachment to general correspondence (printed on plain white paper with black ink) or electronic transmissions, provided the information in the photograph was not altered or staged for a recruiting purpose. The following questions and answers are designed to assist the Division I membership with the application of legislation related to photographs as attachments. Q uestion: May a coaching staff member send a photograph via text message without the photo being considered an attachment? Answer: No. Q uestion: May a coaching staff member send a photograph via email without the photo being considered an attachment?
A nswer: No. Q uestion: Are photographs used as institutional letterhead subject to the same restrictions as other photographs used as attachments? A nswer: No. However, if the photos are used in any other manner, those other uses remain subject to the restrictions on photographs as attachments. For example, a photo of an institution’s competition facility used in institutional letterhead is not subject to the restrictions on photographs as attachments. However, if a coach at the institution wants to send the photo used in the institutional letterhead to a prospective student-athlete as an attachment to either general correspondence or an electronic transmission, then the photo being sent to the prospective studentathlete cannot be altered or staged for a recruiting purpose. Q uestion:
May
a
men’s
basketball
coaching staff member send a photo of a team practice to a men’s basketball student-athlete as an attachment to a text message? A nswer: Yes, provided the content was not altered or staged for a recruiting purpose. Q uestion: May a football coach send a photo of the institution’s pep rally to a prospective student-athlete as an attachment to a direct message on twitter? A nswer: Yes, provided the content was not altered or staged for a recruiting purpose. Q uestion: May a basketball coach take a photo of a room not available to the general public (e.g., institution’s trophy room, team meeting room, locker room, etc.) and send it to a prospective student-athlete as an attachment to a text message. Continued on Page 3
COMPLIANCE STAFF Nicole Green, Assistant Athletic Director
Joel Vickery, Director of Compliance
Ryan Crews, Compliance Assistant
Jon Michalik, Graduate Assistant
ngreen@memphis.edu
jhvckery@memphis.edu
rcccrews@memphis.edu
jmchalik@memphis.edu
570 Normal Street | Memphis, TN 38125 | Office: 901.678.2088 | Fax: 901.678.1653
2
OCT 2012 | VOL. 2
2012-13 Women’s Basketball Officials To Closely Monitor Pace Of Play
EDUCATION Continued from Page 2
By: Rick Nixon NCAA Division I women’s basketball officials are preparing for the season by attending officiating clinics and completing online testing programs. In addition to being responsible for all game rules management, officials are also being asked to monitor closely the following areas in 2012-13:
establish initial guarding position and remain in this area to draw a charge on a player with the ball or a player who has released the ball on a pass or shot. Secondary/helpside defenders who are not defending the player with the ball or the player who has released the ball on a pass or shot are permitted to draw a charge in this area.
Incidental Elbow Contact There can be incidental contact with the elbow above or below the shoulders and not all elbow contact with the elbow is a foul regardless of where the elbow makes contact.
Legal Guarding Legally establishing and maintaining guarding position is critical to proper enforcement of block/charge fouls. Once a defender has legally established and maintained her guarding position, Traveling it is the responsibility of the offensive Not all spin moves are travels and player to avoid illegal contact. legal moves by the ball handler will be permitted. After establishing a pivot Contact On/By the Ball Handler/Dribbler foot, that pivot foot may be lifted, but Defenders are permitted one touch may not return to the floor before the on the ball handler/dribbler in order ball is released on a pass or try for goal. to measure up. The next touch by the same defender on the ball handler is Freedom of Movement a foul. Too much contact on the ball Excessive physicality and the lack of handler/dribbler continues to inhibit freedom of movement will be enforced offensive progress. Officials have been by officials. Players must be permitted reminded that consistency from the to move freely and without being held, start of the season until the end of the pushed or rerouted. season, the start of a game until the end of a game and across the country Pace of Play is critical to a free flowing game. Stoppage of play that interrupts the Likewise, the ball handler/dribbler is flow and pace of the game will be not permitted to create illegal contact watched closely by officials in 2012- on legally established defenders. 13. In order to increase the pace of play, officials will keep the game Free-Throw Violations moving following timeouts, to permit Free-throw violations are on the incidental/marginal contact, permit rise and officials are being asked to legal moves by ball handlers and to use penalize consistently players entering the monitor judiciously. the lane area too soon, disconcertion of shooters and players who fake shots or Restricted Area Rule violations. M The restricted area is the only area on the floor in which a secondary/ helpside defender is not permitted to
A nswer: Yes, provided the content was not altered or staged for a recruiting purpose. Q uestion: May a coach take a photo and use software (e.g., Instagram, Photoshop, Camera Awesome, Camera+,) to enhance the content of the photo (e.g., changed color of photo to sepia tones or add content to the photograph), and send it to a prospective student-athlete as an attachment it to an email or direct social media message? A nswer: No, a photograph that has been altered or staged for a recruiting purpose cannot be sent to a prospective studentathlete. Q uestion: May a soccer coach arrange for a photo of the university’s president, famous alumni and mascot to be taken and sent to a prospective student-athlete as an attachment to an email? A nswer: No, the content of the photograph may not be staged for the purpose of being sent to a prospective student-athlete.
[References: NCAA Bylaws 13.4.1.1 (printed recruiting materials), 13.4.1.2 (electronic transmissions), 13.4.1.2.1 (exception — men’s basketball), 13.4.1.3 (other recruiting materials); an official interpretation (3/14/2007, Item No. 1); and a staff interpretation (8/30/12, Item No. f)]
Notice about Educational Columns: Educational columns and hot topics are intended to assist the membership with the correct application of legislation and/or interpretations by providing clarifications, reminders and examples. They are based on legislation and official and staff interpretations applicable at the time of publication. Therefore, educational columns and hot topics are binding to the extent that the legislation and interpretations on which they are based remain applicable. Educational columns are posted on a regular basis to address a variety of issues and hot topics are posted as necessary in order to address timely issues.
M
COMPLIANCE STAFF Nicole Green, Assistant Athletic Director
Joel Vickery, Director of Compliance
Ryan Crews, Compliance Assistant
Jon Michalik, Graduate Assistant
ngreen@memphis.edu
jhvckery@memphis.edu
rcccrews@memphis.edu
jmchalik@memphis.edu
570 Normal Street | Memphis, TN 38125 | Office: 901.678.2088 | Fax: 901.678.1653
3
OCT 2012 | VOL. 2
Recruiting, continued from Page 2 (Virginia Tech men’s basketball) and Mel Tjeerdsma (Northwest Missouri State football) also have made appearances.
gender, psychology, organization, leadership, sociology, family dynamics and writing skills,” Brennan said.
taking this class to have something written down that they can go back and reference when they are coaching.”
“I thought a class like this would be of great interest to coaches,” said Brennan, who also teaches a class called “Behavioral Aspects of Coaching” at Nebraska-Omaha.
Brennan assigns readings every week and has his students involved in practical applications in different areas of recruiting. At the end of the class, students must put together their own recruiting manual. It isn’t so much about rules and regulations as it is about developing techniques to connect with people.
During his nearly two decades of working on recruiting, Brennan knows there is no cookie-cutter approach. Coaches have to develop a style that fits them individually.
Students taking the class face a multitasking curriculum. Brennan said the toughest part of developing the idea was finding graduate-level reading. “When I broke it down, I decided on readings that focused on research findings, personality, persuasion, communication,
“Each week they would be working on a little part of the final project,” Brennan said. “Of course, we have some tests throughout the course. But most of all, I want someone
“Recruiting is eclectic, and there are a lot of ideas out there,” Brennan said. “I want people in the class to think about the ways they would find the athletes they choose to recruit and what their phone conversations would entail during different points in the recruiting process.” M
Winter Rules, continued from Page 1 “We can make sure our officials understand the principles of the calls they make,” Adams said. “We can try to ingrain in their minds from the first time they referee a game to the 500th time, and somewhere in between they get better.” Sportsmanship A sportsmanship initiative from the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Rules Committees will be implemented this season. It calls for more stringent adherence regarding bench decorum by coaches and bench personnel. Basketball rules committee members believe the following behaviors hurt the image of the game and should result in a technical foul against the coach or other bench personnel: • C omments directed at or referring to any game official that question the integrity of an official (repeated references to the number of fouls called against each team; suggesting an official is “cheating” a team, etc.). • P rofane, vulgar, threatening, or derogatory remarks or personal comments relating to race, ethnicity,
religion, gender or sexual orientation directed at or referring to any game official or opposing player/bench personnel. • P rolonged, negative responses to a call/no-call that are disrespectful or unprofessional, including waving or thrashing the arms in disgust, dramatizing contact by re-enacting the play, or running or jumping in disbelief over a call/non-call. • A negative response to a call/no-call that includes approaching/charging an official in a hostile, aggressive or otherwise threatening manner, emphatically removing one’s coat in response to a call/no-call, or throwing equipment or clothing on to the floor. • C ontinual criticism during a game regarding the same incident after being warned by an official. Committee members understand there will be spontaneous reactions to calls, but they don’t want prolonged responses to harm the game environment.
Basketball Court-Surface Rule This season a rules change requires temporary decals and logos placed on the court to be “of a consistent surface” as the rest of the floor. The change is intended to enhance the safety of men’s and women’s basketball players. While this past spring was a non-rules change year for basketball, policy permits rules committees to make changes in off years if safety issues are involved. The new rule calls for the playing court to be of a completely finished manner that is consistent throughout. The rules change does not restrict the use of decals and logos, but it does make clear that those marks must be similar to the rest of the court. That includes the threefoot area outside each sideline and the six-foot area behind the end lines. The host game management will be responsible for ensuring the court is of a similar finish, including any logos or decals that are legally allowed on the floor. Game officials will have the authority to suspend play if the surface does not comply. M
COMPLIANCE STAFF Nicole Green, Assistant Athletic Director
Joel Vickery, Director of Compliance
Ryan Crews, Compliance Assistant
Jon Michalik, Graduate Assistant
ngreen@memphis.edu
jhvckery@memphis.edu
rcccrews@memphis.edu
jmchalik@memphis.edu
570 Normal Street | Memphis, TN 38125 | Office: 901.678.2088 | Fax: 901.678.1653
4
OCT 2012 | VOL. 2