Ejected From The Game: Can A Player Return After Ejection In College Basketball?

Basketball can become a passionate sport when the game is on the line. But if you get ejected in college basketball, can you play the next game?

As a sports enthusiast who watches college basketball religiously, I can tell you without a doubt what I say is true. 

I’ve seen multiple players, in person and on TV, get ejected from games and return the very next game to continue playing. This fact is widely known throughout the sporting community and I can tell you after seeing first hand that this is true.

What Is An Ejection?

In sports, an ejection is an act to remove a player, coach, or team member from the game by physically removing them from the floor of the game. 

For example, if the coach Bobby Knight throws a chair onto the floor of an ongoing game, he may be ejected and physically forced to leave the game if he does leave willingly. 

The act is carried out by basketball referees and enacted as a punishment usually for bad behavior like unsportsmanlike conduct. 

Ejections are usually carried out when technical fouls are not enough. 

For example, serious fouls, fighting, using abusive language, and intentionally injuring another player. 

The main purpose of ejections is to enact a severe penalty while maintaining integrity and fairness of the game as well as to promote sportsmanship and respect for the rules. 

What is a Technical Foul?

A technical foul is a rule infraction that results in the opposing team receiving a free throw. 

Technical fouls can be given out for numerous reasons such as arguing with the referees, unsportsmanlike conduct, and delay of game. 

Technical fouls do not count as personal fouls as an individual’s total’s foul count racks up. 

A famous technical foul, in the NBA, not college ball, was in the year 2000 during the NBA playoffs.  

Shaquille O’Neal received two technical fouls for arguing with officials and was ejected from the game. This caused Shaq to miss a crucial part of the game. Arguing with officials can lead to technical fouls and eventually ejections, among other things.

Technical fouls can also be given for aggressive physical contact. 

Aggressive physical attacks can lead to technical fouls for acts like pushing and punching. 

Sometimes, these acts will go straight to an ejection like ruling by the referees during a regular season game, but oftentimes a technical foul will be enough to stop any arguing and fighting.

A technical foul can often lead to ejections because players like to argue with referees after receiving a technical foul. For example, after receiving a technical foul, sometimes players will argue with the referees that they shouldn’t have received a technical foul in the first place. 

This will lead the referees to pull out the ejection card and forcibly remove the player from the game. 

What Happens If You Get Ejected From A NCAA Basketball Game?

When a player is ejected from a NCAA Basketball game, that player must leave the court immediately. The player is not allowed to return to the game for the remainder of the game. 

This is because ejections are the most severe penalty a referee can enact on a player. 

Depending on the severity of the infraction, additional penalties may be enacted such as a one game suspension or multi game suspensions. But these details are usually handled by the league and team well after the player has been ejected. 

The immediate action to be taken by an ejected player is for that player to leave the court.

Another punishment is that the team must continue play without the ejected team member. 

So if the ejected team member is crucial to your team’s operation, such as a head coach, or leading scorer, your team is out that member and has to continue playing without them.

When Can Ejections Last Multiple Games?

In the NCAA, if infractions are considered severe enough, ejections can turn into suspensions. While an ejection is the most severe penalty one can receive during the game, that doesn’t mean it’s the most severe penalty you can receive at all. 

If the infraction that was committed is considered more serious, referees and NCAA officials can make the ejection last multiple games, in turn turning the ejection into a multi-game suspension. 

Ejections that typically turn into multi game suspensions usually involve violence, committing the same technical foul over and over, or overly aggressive behavior like foul language. 

If multiple technical fouls are committed during the same game, this may also be cause for multi-game suspensions. 

Referees do not enjoy having unsportsmanlike conduct broadcasted to the world through the television. 

Famous Technical Fouls

Technical fouls are usually a big deal in Basketball, but here is a list of some of the most famous technical fouls.

• Shaquille O’Neal – Ejected during the 2000 NBA playoff games for arguing with officials. 
• Dennis Rodman – Dennis Rodman was known for his famous technical fouls including one incident where he kicked a TV camera. 
• Kobe Bryant – He received many different technical fouls throughout his career including one heated argument with then referee Bob Delaney during a 2011 game. 
• Rasheed Wallace – Wallace is known for his technical fouls receiving 41 technicals in one season, which is a record. Further penalties were included. 
• Tim Duncan – Once ejected for arguing with officials during a playoff game during 2007.
• Kevin Garnett – Has received many different technicals including one for trash talking an opponent. 
• Lebron James – Received a technical foul during the 2017 NBA finals for arguing with an official. 
• Draymond Green – Received many technical fouls including one during the 2016 NBA finals for arguing with a referee.

As you can see, technical fouls are quite common in basketball, and can sometimes lead to players, and maybe even the assistant coach being ejected. 

Technical fouls don’t always have to be on players, they can be called on bench personnel as well, like coaches and assistant coaches. 

Anyone involved in game play can be considered for a technical foul and will be considered for a technical foul. 

Key Takeaways

• Technical fouls can be called for numerous reasons including delay of game. 
• Technical fouls can lead to automatic ejection if the player argues about tech fouls.
• Players are usually allowed to return to the next game if no suspensions happen.
• Players are usually escorted back to the locker room after an ejection.
• Further participation is allowed after all ejection consequences have been met.