Jun 4, 2010 8:57:53 AM

The Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved a proposal Wednesday that calls for officials to assess either an intentional or flagrant foul on a player who swings an elbow and makes more than incidental contact with an opponent above the shoulders in men's and women's basketball for the 2010-11 season.

The NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Rules Committees recommended the proposal.

If the elbowing foul is deemed to be intentional, the team whose player was struck would receive two free throws and possession of the ball. If the foul is deemed to be flagrant, the player who threw the elbow would be ejected.

Previously, such contact called for as little as a common foul or as much as a flagrant foul to be assessed. Under the new proposal, though, officials would no longer have the option of calling a common foul.

A player who swings the elbow and makes contact below the shoulders would still be subject to a common foul, an intentional foul or a flagrant foul, depending on the severity and intent.

PROP also approved experimental rules in women's and men's basketball for the upcoming season.

The women's rules committee, in a continued effort to examine the distance of the three-point line, proposed that during all exhibition games and 40-minute game-like scrimmages, the current men's three-point line of 20 feet, 9 inches, be used as the three-point field goal distance. The current distance for the women's three-point line is 19 feet, 9 inches.

On the men's side, PROP approved adding a restricted area arc two feet from the center of the basket on an experimental basis in multi-team events and exhibition games next year. The experiment would extend last year's rules change making it illegal for a secondary defender to take a charge underneath the basket.

Rifle rules changes

PROP discussed and approved a recommendation by the NCAA Men's and Women's Rifle Committee to no longer publish an NCAA Rifle Rules Book and instead adopt playing rules from USA Shooting.

While the two rules books are not significantly different, USA Shooting rules do address modern competition in one particular way, such as the use of electronic targets and electronic scoring.

USA Shooting Rules are also the same ones used in international competition. Those in the rifle coaching community believe this will help evaluate prospective international and U.S. junior athletes who have been competing under these rules from a young age.

The committee is also recommending that five shooters compete in each team discipline rather than four.

If approved by the Division I Championships/Sports Management Cabinet, a collegiate rifle contest will consist of five athletes with the top four scores counting. The rule would apply to the championships, the national qualifier and all regular-season matches. The cabinet will discuss the issue at its September meeting.

Wrestling rules change

PROP approved a change to Wrestling Rule 6.2 (match-ending injuries) in regard to concussions.

The rule will now read, "If a contestant is rendered unconscious or shows signs of a concussion or spinal injury, that wrestler shall not be permitted to continue in the match or return to competition without approval of the team physician or their designee according to the concussion management plan. Student-athletes diagnosed with a concussion shall not return to activity (or competition) for the remainder of that day."

The change adds the concussion symptoms to the list of injuries that require medical attention and positions athletic trainers and physicians as the central authority for that oversight.

This was an off-year for the NCAA Wrestling Rules Committee to make changes to the rules book. However, members felt strongly that this modification was necessary because of its effect on student-athlete health and safety.

In January, PROP strongly endorsed efforts by the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports to manage concussion issues more effectively. PROP instructed each rules committee to thoroughly review its policies in the areas of stopping play for injuries and to consider instituting rules that may further prevent head injuries.

The NCAA Executive Committee at its quarterly meeting in April adopted a policy requiring institutions across all three divisions to have a concussion management plan on file that mandates removal of a student-athlete who exhibits signs, symptoms or behaviors consistent with a concussion from practice or competition.