EDISON, NJ (Oct. 5, 2021) – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) announced today that the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Rules Committees have approved an experimental waiver for the 2021-22 season allowing MAAC men’s and women’s basketball programs the use of live video in the bench area for coaching purposes.
The approved waiver permits the MAAC to collaborate with a third-party technology partner to transmit live video to the team bench area for all 2021-22 regular season conference games and the 2022 Hercules Tires MAAC Men's & Women’s Basketball Championships. The MAAC has partnered with DVSport, who has been providing basketball replay for the conference since 2016.
MAAC men’s and women’s basketball teams will have access to live video in the bench area, so long as the video is used for coaching purposes. Additionally, MAAC men’s basketball programs will experiment with the transmission of pre-loaded video to the bench area, as it is already permitted by the NCAA in women’s basketball.
“The MAAC is excited to be granted a waiver to participate in another experimental rule this season,” said Jordan Confessore, MAAC Associate Commissioner for Men's Basketball. “This gives our conference the ability to provide new tools to our coaches to teach their student-athletes.”
In recent years, the MAAC and its membership have embraced the evolution of technology and its impact on the game of basketball, constantly attempting to be at the forefront of change to progress the game. In the 2019-20 season, the conference experimented with the use of live statistics in the bench area, eventually becoming approved by the NCAA in 2021.
“The MAAC understands and embraces the evolution of technology and the impact on the game of basketball,” added Confessore. “As a conference, we are always striving to lead the way by adapting to those changes.”
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 41st year of competition during the 2021-22 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.