SAVANNAH, Georgia — Though the chair of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee said the door is not closed on extending the three-point line, committee members chose not to walk through it for the upcoming season.

In fact, both the men’s and women’s rules committees recommended that no changes be made to the playing court during their annual meetings May 2-5.

The men’s committee, which experimented with a 20-foot, 9-inch three-point line, a widened free-throw lane and a restricted-area arc during the 2005-06 season, decided not to collect data on those possibilities this year.

“We have years of experimental data about several different court modifications,” said Larry Keating, committee chair and senior associate director of athletics at the University of Kansas. “We have the numbers, and now we need to continue discussing the future of the game with the coaches. The future may or may not include a wider lane or longer three-point line. The door is not closed on that issue.”

Experimentation in the last few years has indicated that moving the three-point line from the current 19 feet, 9 inches, to 20 feet, 6 inches (the same distance used internationally) or 20 feet, 9 inches (the distance used in experiments last fall) would make little or no difference in shooting percentages.

Similarly, data have demonstrated that the widened lane would not change the balance of rebounding after a missed free throw.

“Our purpose in considering court changes is about considering the physical characteristics of the players playing the present game,” Keating said. “It is unrealistic to widen the court or to lengthen the court. We can widen the lane and extend the three-point line to allow our players, who are bigger and stronger than ever, more room to maneuver.”

Although annual survey results show a growing acceptance of changes in court markings, the committee will solicit more feedback from coaches in the upcoming year.

The most significant recommendation from the men’s and women’s committees is to eliminate an airborne player’s ability to call timeout when momentum is carrying him or her either out-of-bounds or into the backcourt.

That change is headed to the Playing Rules Oversight Panel for approval during a May 30 teleconference.

Both committees also endorsed a proposal to require Divisions II and III programs to have game clocks that display tenths of a second by 2010. Programs also would be required to have red lights or LED lights and shot clocks mounted on the backboard by that time.

Those features have been required for Division I facilities since the 2002-03 season. NCAA playing rules are the same for all three divisions except in rare instances stemming from financial hardship.

“We have built in four years for our institutions to make this change,” said Ronda Seagraves, chair of the women’s committee and associate athletics director at Southwestern University (Texas). “We do not want our Divisions II and III student-athletes to play indefinitely without these advancements.”

The women’s committee also added teeth to the existing rule for Division I facilities, stating that violators will be assessed an indirect technical foul at the start of each home contest. There currently is no penalty for noncompliance.

Both committees also addressed uniform rules, specifying that “compression pants” or undergarments may not extend below the game pants. In addition, undershirts may not extend below the elbow, and only sleeves worn for medical purposes will be allowed.

Experimental rules

Women’s basketball teams will continue experimenting this fall with the three-point line extended to 20 feet, 6 inches, and with the 10-second backcourt rule. On the men’s side, the committee will be looking for feedback on eliminating the first lane space nearest the basket on each side of the lane and using the present second, third and fourth lane spaces on each side of the lane during a free throw attempt — the alignment currently used in the women’s game.

All experimental rules for both men and women are required to be used during qualifying multiple-team contests played before January 1, 2006. The committees urge participation during exhibition games and scrimmages as well.

Points of emphasis

The points of emphasis in both genders are similar to last year. Rough play and palming remain as points of emphasis for the 2006-07 season for men’s basketball. The committee also will emphasize proper adjudication of the loose-ball scrambles that occur during the game, including calling personal fouls and ensuring the possession before granting a timeout.

“We have concerns about the safety of our players during a loose ball,” Keating said. “If we focus on calling fouls, we think we can cut back on players jumping on top of the pile. Further, the recognition of a timeout before a player has attained possession of the ball must be called within the defined rules.”

For the women’s game, displacement and sportsmanship remain as points of emphasis for the 2006-07 season.

“Sportsmanship is more than a buzz word. We are concerned about the behavior we see in our game,” Seagraves said. “We will not tolerate coaches out of the coaching box or taunting by our players. There are plenty of opportunities for team communication within the lines of the coaching box. There is no excuse for players being derogatory toward opponents or officials.”