National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

July 21, 1997

Coach-official dialogue concerns I men's basketball

The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee has reaffirmed its desire to enforce the application of the current playing rule dealing with the dialogue between coaches and officials during the Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

Meeting July 23-26 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the committee reviewed Rule 3-2 of the NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Rules, which states that dialogue between coaches and officials should be kept to a bare minimum.

In order to address the issue for regular-season contests in addition to tournament play, the committee forwarded its concern regarding this matter to conference commissioners attending the Collegiate Commissioners Association summer meeting and will have this issue reviewed at the fall officiating clinics.

The committee noted that the NCAA officiating certification program implemented in the mid-1980s specifically addressed this issue, and in doing so noted that failure to comply with this rule would subject a conference to the following: (a) having no official(s) assigned to the NCAA tournament, (b) a financial penalty, or (c) not being eligible for automatic qualification to the NCAA tournament.

In other actions, the committee dealt with championship administration issues, including a review of the results of an automatic qualification survey mailed to all Division I conferences this spring. The committee agreed to forward the survey results to the Division I conference commissioners for feedback.

The committee also reaffirmed the timetable and finalized the specifications for soliciting bids to host the 2003 through 2005 Final Fours, noting that requests will be mailed approximately October 1 to cities with facilities meeting the minimum seating capacity of 30,000.

Other highlights

Division I Men's Basketball Committee
July 23-26/Colorado Springs, Colorado

  • Agreed to the following Final Four ticket prices: 1999 -- $100 and $80 (same as for the 1997 and 1998 Final Fours); 2000 -- $120, $100 and $80.

  • Established as a principle that a team hosting a first-/second-round session may be placed in the same region and play on the day that it is hosting.

  • Met with the San Antonio local organizing committee to review plans for the 1998 Final Four.

  • Reviewed with CBS representatives the telecast of the 1997 tournament and plans for telecasts of the 1998 tournament.

  • Met with representatives from Host Communications to review the radio broadcast and program sales from the 1997 tournament and to discuss plans for a marketing/promotional initiative relative to NCAA basketball.

  • Met with a representative from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to discuss issues related to gambling on college sports.

  • Adopted a policy requiring a member of each participating institution's sports information staff to attend an 8 a.m. meeting with the host media coordinator on the open practice day at the first-round and regional sites.