NCAA bans coach from calling

The NCAA banned new Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson from calling recruits and visiting them off-campus for one year, ruling he deliberately broke its rules by making extra phone calls to potential players while coaching Oklahoma.

The decision, announced by the committee on infractions, also requires Indiana to adopt the restrictions Oklahoma placed on Sampson, where he coached before Indiana hired him earlier this year.

Indiana hired Sampson in March amid an investigation into 577 extra phone calls Sampson and Sooners assistant coaches made to 17 recruits from 2000 and 2004.

1:22 PM - 6/1/2006

Morris signs with Washington

For Stanford men’s basketball, the madness came two months late. After missing March Madness — the NCAA Tournament — for the first time since 1994, three major developments have made this May one of the craziest months of the offseason.

Outgoing transfer Tim Morris has signed on with Pac-10 rival Washington; Josh Shiller, a sharpshooter from the University of San Francisco, will be transferring to Stanford next season; and seven-year assistant coach Tony Fuller is leaving to coach an Arizona high school.

“Style of play” leads Morris to Washington, cousin Romar

Morris, a redshirt sophomore last season, told the Seattle Times that Stanford’s “style of play just wasn’t the best fit for me” in explaining the decision to sign with Coach Lorenzo Romar, his second cousin, and the Washington Huskies.

Sure enough, the quick, athletic 6-foot-4, 215-pound Morris found one of the nation’s most up-tempo teams in Washington. Last season, the Huskies averaged 82 points, easily tops in the Pac-10. That’s more than 15 points per game better than Stanford, which traditionally runs a slower, more structured offense.

Last season, Morris managed just five points and 3.1 boards per game for Stanford, shooting just 17 percent beyond the arc and 42 percent from the line.

Morris will sit out next year per NCAA transfer rules, and then will have 2007-08 as his final year of eligibility. And though it’s nearly two years away, he’s already anticipating his return to the Maples hardwood.

“That will be interesting,” Morris told the Seattle Times. “I’ll be curious to see what kind of reception I’ll get.”

Shiller takes Morris’ slot

Freshman Drew Shiller will transfer to the Farm to fill the roster opening that Morris’ departure created. Shiller, a 6-foot, 185-pound sharp-shooting guard, scored 4.4 points per game on 37 percent three-point accuracy off the bench in his one season at San Francisco.

Stanford recruited Shiller in high school, but never offered him a full scholarship. Now, with Morris’ departure and expectations of weaker recruiting classes the next two seasons, the high school football, basketball and baseball star out of Burlingame, Calif. has earned a full ride to his “dream school,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Like Morris, Shiller will have to sit out next year as a transfer, but will be eligible as a redshirt sophomore in 2007-08. And just like Morris, Shiller is counting down the days.

“The academic rigor at Stanford is going to be very challenging,” he told the Chronicle. “And I’ll have a chance to work on my body and my game, to get to the level I need to be at to compete. I’m chomping at the bit.”

Fuller leaves coaching ranks thinner

Seven-year assistant coach Tony Fuller has taken the head coaching position at Brophy Prep, an Arizona Jesuit high school.

Fuller becomes the second coach to leave the basketball program this offseason, following in the footsteps of nine-year assistant Eric Reveno, now the head man at the University of Portland. Twelve-year Stanford assistant Doug Oliver, returning after a eight-year absence from the Farm, and younger staff members Donny Guerinoni (assistant) and Nick Robinson (director of basketball operations) figure to pick up the slack.

Fuller, 47, had been a head coach at San Diego State and Pepperdine from 1992-96, and had longed to return to the head coaching ranks for years. He was a finalist for the position at the University of North Dakota when he accepted the post at a high school that is among the top in its state both athletically and academically.

“I see it as a great opportunity,” Fuller told the Arizona Republic. “I’m excited about it.”

1:18 PM - 6/1/2006

2005-06 Rules Changes

NCAA coaches and student-athletes will be adjusting to only a few competition rules changes for the 2005-06 basketball season. The most significant of the new rules deals with the kicked-ball violation.

Violations when the ball has been intentionally kicked will no longer result in the reset of the shot clock to either 30 seconds (women) or 35 seconds (men). When the violation occurs with 15 or fewer seconds remaining, the shot clock will be set to 15 seconds. Otherwise, when the violation occurs with more than 15 seconds remaining, the shot clock shall not be reset.

"We thought the penalty was too severe for the violation,” Ronda Seagraves, Women’s Basketball Rules Committee chair and assistant athletics director at Southwestern University (Texas) said. “If a team is playing great defense and the shot clock is running down, it does not seem fair to completely reset it. This takes into account the defensive effort.”

The amount of time allowed to replace a disqualified player is reduced from 30 seconds to 20 seconds starting this season. The warning signal will be sounded with five seconds remaining in the 20-second period.

"The time to replace a disqualified player was never meant to be used as an additional timeout,” Larry Keating, Men’s Basketball Rules Committee chair and senior associate athletics director at the University of Kansas, said. “Twenty seconds will allow for coaches to make personnel changes, give instructions, and keep the game moving.”

Uniformity of uniforms has been addressed in the new rules. Head bands and wrist bands must be the same color as the dominant color of the game jersey and the same for all players choosing to wear these uniform extras. Only one logo, either one manufacturer’s logo or one institutional logo or mascot logo is allowed on these uniform extras.

The use of the monitor was expanded to allow officials to use the courtside television monitor to determine whether a foul committed at or near the expiration of time in the first half or second half (when it affects the outcome of the game) occurred before the reading of 0.00 on the game clock. After ruling that the foul was committed before the expiration of time, officials shall now be permitted to put time back on the clock when it is determined that time remained after the foul.

Previously, officials were allowed to use the official courtside television monitor to ascertain if a try for goal was attempted before the expiration of time, 0:00, at the end of the first half or at the end of the game or any extra period when it determines the outcome of the game. After ruling that the try for goal was successful, officials shall now be permitted to put time back on the clock when it is determined that time remained after the ball passed through the net.

"Officials were able to use the monitor to check if the shot beat the clock, but this allows them to correct the time, when applicable,” Keating said. “In many games, we have the ability to determine down to 10ths-of-a-second how much time should remain on the clock. We need to utilize it.”

The time frame to fix a timer’s mistake has been expanded. Previously, such a mistake was to be corrected only during the first dead ball after the game clock should have started or stopped or once the ball is in play before the second live ball when the clock should have been running and while the ball is dead. Now, in both cases, the mistake may be fixed before the ball is touched inbounds or illegally out-of-bounds by a player.

12:19 PM - 12/3/2005