What Happened to the 28 Foot Line!?

The "5 Seconds Closely Guarded" Rule has changed, several years ago, in fact........ but I understand if a mom or a dad now has a 14-18 year old high school student/basketball player that the rule changed AFTER Mom/Dad stopped playing. So them not being up to date I am OK with.

But a Varsity Coach?

Currently the rule is quite simple. If a Defensive Player has ONE foot within 6" of the Offensive Player's nearest foot a "5 Second Count" is started. You'll know when it starts because the Ref starts a distinct arm motion for the "Count". The defender does not even need to attempt to play defense and can just stand there motionless. It is the 6" distant that triggers the referee to start counting.

Photo by Ryan Dicky via Flickr, acquired and modified under a Creative Commons License

In days past, if the Offensive Player was dribbling and went below a line marked on the court 28' from the End Line the "Count" started over again. Not any more. The 28' line isn't even on most courts these days.

I called a "5 Seconds Closely Guarded" Violation and the Head Coach protested, "But he crossed the 28' line!!"

"What do you mean, Coach?" I asked (oh, I knew what he was talking about, but I was highly curious how this was going to play out).

"He crossed the 28' line. You did not start a new count!"

I replied, "What 28' line are you talking about, Coach?"

The coach was a bit flustered, convinced that I was some idiot Referee that did not know the rule as well as he did...

"The 28' line, Ref! Don't you know the rule?"

I was being polite and asked, "Yes, Coach I do know the rule, could you please show me what 28' line you are talking about?"

NOT seeing any 28' line on the floor where he expected to find it, he started to point, saying, "THAT 28 FOOT LINE RIGHT THER....."

He paused, turned to his Assistant Coach, quite perplexed and flummoxed and asked him, "Where's the 28' line?" The Assistant Coach looked up and down the sideline and shrugged his shoulders.

"Coach, that rule changed several years ago, the "5 Seconds Count" follows the dribbler anywhere he goes on the court."

"Are you sure about that?" The Coach asked, not wanting to give up the argument.

"Yes, Coach. That is why the 28' line was removed when your court floor was resurfaced, and you can't find it now."

And I off I trotted to get the game going again.

So, the next time you or someone you know is watching a High School game and the Referee calls some violation differently from how it was when you played, please double check the Rule before hollering that the Ref doesn't know what he/she is doing!!