Basketball Referee

Basketball Referee

Rndballref

20 Years Experience

Chicago, IL

Male, 60

For twenty years I officiated high school, AAU and park district basketball games, retiring recently. For a few officiating is the focus of their occupation, while for most working as an umpire or basketball referee is an avocation. I started ref'ing to earn beer money during college, but it became a great way to stay connected to the best sports game in the universe. As a spinoff, I wrote a sports-thriller novel loosely based on my referee experiences titled, Advantage Disadvantage

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Last Answer on September 20, 2019

Best Rated

Is Carrying still a foul. I see it at every level of basketball.

Asked by Jim over 9 years ago

"Carrying the ball" is not a foul. It is a violation that used to be called an "illegal dribble" but several years ago NFHS added the carrying signal as its own violation.

Is it legal for the official to remove a player from the game after a flagrant foul:
There was about 5 secs left, our point guard intentionally(harshly) fouls opponent, is ejected, the ref attempts to scoot him off, our player shoves off, legal?J.H.

Asked by Casey about 9 years ago

A single flagrant foul results in a disqualification in NFHS rules.

Can a referee order a player to retrieve a basketball that has gone out of bounds? Saw a player start then stop to get a ball that was rolling off the court and went out of bounds. The ref could ask the player to help but can't compel that act

Asked by Chipjr almost 9 years ago

You are correct. There is nothing in the rule book which would compel a player to retrieve the ball for an official. The only related rule deals with a player not giving the ball to an official or touching the ball when the other team has possession, like after a basket by your own team. This would be a delay of game.

As a referee, is there a code of conduct in place that would disqualify a parent from refereeing his own sons AAU championship game? The opposing team attempted to have a parent ref his sons game. Isn't there rules against this?

Asked by Kaylee over 9 years ago

I am not an expert on AAU rules but common sense would tell anyone to avoid officiating your son's game in competitive play. It would be different if it was a "house" league, but this is inappropriate for traveling basketball.

Hi Ref, can a player blow in another players face? In my daughters game player B1 was playing defense by standing in player A1's face (within 12 inches) even when play was stopped and would repeatedly blow in A1's face. Legal? Thx

Asked by P_Johnston about 9 years ago

I would warn the player that blowing air in the face of an opponent is unsportsmanlike and the next occurance would be a technical foul.

Player A and Player B are fighting for a ball that is heading toward out of bounds.
Player B in his efforts ends up out of bounds and keep in mind has not touched the ball while going out of bounds, so it is still a live play
Player A while still in

Asked by Jeff over 9 years ago

The ball is inbounds until the ball touches any out of bounds area, or it touches a player who is out of bounds. If A is still inbounds and the ball is still inbounds, it is not out of bounds until an out of bounds player touches it.

Follow up to the block/charge question 2 down. For screens, when a defender is blind to a screen they may take a huge hit. I see this called a foul on the screener ~75% of the time. Is that call correct? Is the screener flexing his shoulder illegal?

Asked by Bball Right over 9 years ago

Here are the screening rules:1) when screening a stationary opponent from the front or side, the screener may be anywhere short of contact.2) when screening a stationary opponent from behind the screener must allow the opponent one normal step backward3) when screening a moving opponent the screener must allow the opponent time and distance to avoid contact. The speed of the player to be screened will determine where the screener may set up. This may vary and may be one to two normal steps.4) when screening a player moving in the same direction, the player behind is responsible for all contact.