Following is a press release issued by Dr. Daniel Swartos, Executive Director of the SDHSAA, concerning the use of instant replay following Friday night’s Sioux Falls O’Gorman vs. Yankton boys’ basketball game at the Class AA State Boys’ Basketball Tournament in Rapid City in which the Knights won on a last-second shot to advance to Saturday’s championship game.
The SDHSAA is aware of the situation that occurred at the end of the Yankton/O’Gorman State AA Boys Basketball Semifinal this evening in Rapid City.
NFHS rules do allow states to adopt instant replay in basketball under very limited circumstances.
The SDHSAA process for rule changes involves passage by member votes at an advisory committee level, followed by a vote of the state athletic directors, and finally two readings by the SDHSAA Board of Directors.
While the topic of instant replay in basketball has been previously broached in South Dakota, it has never left the advisory stage of our membership’s rule change process.
As such, instant replay is not currently used in SDHSAA basketball nor any of our other activities.
Further, per our Constitution and By-Laws, officials decisions in any contest are by their nature necessarily regarded as final and shall not be considered as the basis for protest.
It is the intention of the SDHSAA to again examine instant replay in basketball throughout the coming year, and we will follow the wishes of our membership in regards to this topic.
It will go through the same rule change process as anything else, and would be implemented if approved by a vote of the state Athletic Directors and two readings of the representative SDHSAA Board of Directors.
