Rules panel gets tough on rough play in men's basketball

Eliminating rough play in men's basketball will be a top priority for the NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee as the new season gets underway.

The committee has made rough play the sole point of emphasis, and men's basketball coaches and conference commissioners agree with the committee.

"The committee believes that, in general, the rules governing rough play already are in place; they just need to be enforced much more strictly," said Roy Williams, chair of the rules committee and head coach at the University of Kansas.

"We came away from our annual meeting carrying that single message to officials, conference commissioners, supervisors of officials, coaches, the NCAA basketball committee and everyone who is a party to this -- we want to eliminate rough play all over the floor.

"Basketball has reached a critical stage. Physical play and illegal contact have inhibited the game of skill that James Naismith envisioned. For the game's welfare, a collective decision must be made to coach, play and officiate in accordance with the rules that govern such play."

Hank Nichols, NCAA coordinator of men's officiating, carried that message to officials and supervisors of officials during annual officiating clinics this fall.

"The officials have displayed unanimous enthusiasm for the effort to eliminate rough play," Nichols said. "Their only questions were regarding whether they will receive support. They wanted assurances that the commissioners and the supervisors would support them when they make these calls."

Judging from the response from those two groups, support should not be a problem.

"Commissioners are committed to eliminating rough play all over the court," said Michael A. Tranghese, commissioner of the Big East Conference and chair of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee.

"We want the officials to make the calls necessary to accomplish this. The basketball committee will place major emphasis on this when selecting officials to work and advance during the NCAA tournament."

"The rules regarding rough play are clearly written," Williams said. "We need to return the game's emphasis to that of skill rather than rough, physical play. We can only accomplish this with a concerted effort on the part of everyone involved. Not only must officials call each game under these rules, but also coaches must teach in accordance with these rules and demand that their players adhere to them."

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Grice remembered

William "Bill" Grice, who had a long career in intercollegiate athletics, died at his home in North Carolina last month. He was 80.

Grice was the director of athletics at Case Western Reserve from 1974 to his retirement in 1985, and he was the head football coach at Oberlin College from 1958 to 1972.

During the 1970s, Grice served a six-year term as the Division III representative on the NCAA Executive Committee. Grice also served on many other NCAA committees, and was chair of the Division III Football Committee.

During Grice's tenure at Case Western Reserve, he increased the number of sports the institution offered from 15 to 19, upgrading women's sports offerings and overseeing improvements in the football, basketball and tennis programs during that time.

Also while at Case Western Reserve, Grice was one of the founders of the North Coast Athletic Conference and served as the first chair of the conference's athletics directors.

A graduate of Guilford College, Grice was inducted into numerous halls of fame, including the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Hall of Fame.

Number crunching

Looking back

November 1998 -- The NCAA Division I Baseball Committee votes in a new set of bat standards that includes a maximum batted-ball velocity of 93 miles per hour. In addition, the maximum allowable diameter of the bat is decreased from 2 3/4 inches to 2 5/8 inches and the length-to-weight differential is reduced from five to three, without the grip. (The NCAA News, November 23, 1998)

November 1989 -- The Knight Foundation names eight college and university presidents to a 21-member panel seeking reforms in intercollegiate athletics. The presidents named are Lamar Alexander from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; John A. DiBiaggio from Michigan State University; Thomas K. Hearn from Wake Forest University; Martin A. Massengale from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Chase N. Peterson from the University of Utah; A. Kenneth Pye from Southern Methodist University; Bryce Jordan from Pennsylvania State University; and Charles E. Young from the University of California, Los Angeles. (The NCAA News, November 20, 1989)

"The independents want a national championship playoff because they don't have a conference championship and they don't have a specific bowl bid. They're only playing for a national championship. But it would be a great disadvantage to anyone in the playoffs who's trying to get a legitimate degree. Have you ever heard a college president pound the table and say, 'We've got to have a national playoff'?"

-- University of Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler in 1986 in an article published by The Associated Press.