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Announced yesterday, Akron Zips head coach Keith Dambrot will now be a chairman of the NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee Board. After serving three years as a member of the committee, he will replace Belmont head coach Rick Byrd who has completed his term as a chairman. Dambrot's term as a chairman will begin this season.
The committee meets once a year and votes every other May on rule changes in regards to consistency and fair play. The only way they'd break out of that regular cycle is if there's a pressing issue on player's safety.
Here's the entire 13-person roster for the committee per the NCAA website:
| Division | Title | Name & Institution | Conference | TermExpiration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FBS | Chief of Staff, Associate AD | Jeff O'Malley Marshall University | Conference USA | 8/1/2017 |
| FBS | Deputy Athletics Dir./External Operations | Karl P. Hicks Florida State University | Florida State University | 8/1/2015 |
| FBS | Head Men's Basketball Coach | Keith Dambrot University of Akron | Mid-American Conference | 8/1/2017 |
| FCS | Head Coach | Rick Byrd Belmont University | Ohio Valley Conference | 8/1/2015 |
| DI | Head Men's Basketball Coach | Jack Perri Long Island University-Brooklyn Campus | Northeast Conference | 8/1/2016 |
| DI | Head Men's Basketball Coach | Sydney Johnson Fairfield University | Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference | 8/1/2018 |
| II | AD | Don Brubacher Hillsdale College | Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | 8/1/2016 |
| II | AD, Head Men's Basketball Coach | Mark A. Corino Caldwell University | Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference | 8/1/2015 |
| II | Director of Athletics/Men Bball | Mark Peeler Erskine College | Conference Carolinas | 8/1/2016 |
| III | AD | Kevin McCarthy State University of New York at Cobleskill | North Eastern Athletic Conference | 8/1/2018 |
| III | Assistant AD/Head Men's Basektball Coach | William C. Raleigh Southwestern University (Texas) | Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference | 8/1/2019 |
| III | Head Men's Basketball Coach | Richard Reed University of La Verne | Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conf. | 8/1/2017 |
"It's an honor to be selected by my fellow committee members to serve in this role," Dambrot said. "I am excited to continue working with a great group of people that are dedicated to making the game of basketball better."
The next round of votes won't occur until 2017, and Dambrot missed a few fun rules to vote on.
- Shot clock reduced from 35 to 30 seconds.
- The prohibition of players being unable to dunk in pregame & halftime warm-ups.
- Coaches can't call a time out when the ball is live.
- The expansion of the restricted-area arc.
- Penalties for fake fouls (flopping).
- Class B technical fouls are now only worth one free throw attempt instead of two.
- Click here for the rest of the rule changes.
Dambrot is entering his 12th season as the head coach for the Zips with an all-time record of 252-121, whose career win total ranks second in Akron history and fourth in the MAC with 138 career conference victories. The Zips open up the year against Malone in an exhibition game on November 5 and begin the regular season against Cleveland State on November 14.