MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — It only took Jarrod West 6.3 seconds to forever put himself into West Virginia lore.
That was the amount of time that came off the clock that day in Boise, Idaho in 1998 when West dribbled down the floor and launched his bank shot that beat the final buzzer and sent the Mountaineers to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament with a 75-74 win over heavily-favored Cincinnati.
Today, West is using the summer to be the head coach of Best Virginia, a collection of former WVU alumni who will take part in the $2-million winner-take-all The Basketball Tournament (TBT).
No matter what happens in today’s first-round game against Seven City Royalty — an alumni team from Old Dominion — at 3 p.m. at the Siegel Center in Richmond, the game will never have an ending like West and the Mountaineers experienced that day in Boise.
The Elam Ending will make sure of that.
“Yeah, it’s a very different way to end a basketball game,” West said during a Best Virginia practice. “It’s something we’re going to have to get used to pretty quick.”
What exactly is the Elam Ending? It is the idea formed by Ball State professor Nick Elam that has created enough interest that the TBT began using it in 2017.
The premise is simple: At the first dead ball under the four-minute mark (examples: a foul, timeout or the ball getting knocked out of bounds) the game clock is shot off (the shot clock still runs) and the Elam Ending goes into play.
Instead of playing the clock, a target score is created by adding eight points to the team in the lead and the winner is decided by which team reaches the target score first.
For example, if Best Virginia is leading today, 75-70, at the first deadball under four minutes, then the first team to reach 83 points would be the winner.
“I really like it,” Best Virginia forward Kevin Jones said. “It keeps both teams playing hard and puts an emphasis on playing defense.”
The theory behind the Elam Ending is it eliminates the never-ending fouling strategy seen today in most college games that are close in the final minutes.
Fouling now by the trailing team only helps the team in the lead get closer to the target score.
“It also keeps teams from simply holding onto the ball and trying to run out the clock,” guard Jaysean Paige said. “To me, that’s the biggest thing. If you’re in the lead, holding onto the ball is only running down the shot clock and nothing else.”
The Elam Ending also eliminates the chance for overtime and creates some new strategic questions, beginning with does a team in the lead simply call a timeout to create a deadball situation and set the target score?
“Most teams I’ve watched so far are calling timeout,” West said.
What if a game is tied? Would either team risk setting a target score with a timeout before holding the lead?
What if a team in the lead is three points shy of the reaching the target score? Does it just start launching 3-point attempts or does it work the ball inside for a two-point basket and try to win the game on its next possession?
If both teams are tied and are three points shy of the target score, does the team on defense simply let the other team drive in for a lay-up and try to win the game with a 3-pointer on it’s next possession?
“There’s really a lot of different ways at looking at it,” point guard Juwan Staten said. “If you have a big lead and the ball, I guess you just call timeout to set up the target score. If you’re behind, you don’t want to foul. It eliminates a lot of strategies that we’ve been used to before.”
It also eliminates that once-in-lifetime moment like West had in 1998.
With no game clock in play, there is also no chance of beating the clock with a buzzer-beater that has made so many NCAA tournament games memorable.
“I guess there are pluses and minuses to it,” Jones said. “I still think it’s better, because it forces both teams to keep playing hard. Holding the ball does no good. Fouling does no good. Both teams still have to just go out and go for stops. That’s what I like about it.”
Best Virginia roster
STARTERS: Juwan Staten, Jaysean Paige, Devin Williams, Kevin Jones, Da’Sean Butler.
OFF THE BENCH: Elijah Macon, Truck Bryant, Nate Adrian, Teyvon Myers, John Flowers.
COACHES: Jarrod West, Billy Hahn, Dave Tallman, Greg Richardson.
Richmond schedule
Friday, July 26
Game 1: Best Virginia vs. Seven City Royalty, 3 p.m. (ESPN3)
Game 2: Overseas Elite vs. Hilltop Dawgs, 4:50 p.m. (ESPN3)
Game 3: Green Machine vs. The Web, 6:40 p.m. (ESPN3)
Game 4: Ram Nation vs. DRC, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN3)
Saturday, July 27
Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 5 p.m. (ESPN3)
Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
Sunday, July 28
Regional championship: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, noon (ESPN). Winner advances to championship round in Chicago.
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