NCAA Officials Allowed to Review Final Basket

Officials will be allowed to review last-second baskets on a replay monitor under a rule change adopted Tuesday by the NCAA.

The men’s and women’s basketball rules committees unanimously approved the change after an emergency conference call Monday. The change takes effect Friday.

The rare midseason switch was prompted by controversies over last-second baskets that altered the outcome of recent games, including Johnny Hemsley’s buzzer-beating three-point basket Jan. 17 that gave Miami a 67-66 win over Villanova, and the final basket in Texas A&M;’s 88-86 victory Jan. 15 over Texas Tech.

“Obviously there is no call in the game that is more important, and it’s the one call that’s remembered longer than any other. If we have the technology available to help us, we want to make sure we use it to get the call right,” said Reggie Minton, chairman of the men’s basketball rules committee and Air Force coach.

Previously, officials were barred from using monitors to see if a shot was released before or after the buzzer, which led to the suspension of a Big 12 referee who counted Texas A&M;’s game-winning basket.

The last time the NCAA made a midseason rule change was in 1990-91, to stiffen the penalty for fighting.