How Low Can Shorts Go? Prep Officials Want To Bag Saggy Trend -- High-School Trend Prompts Low-Brow Debate

With tongues wagging, shorts sagging and spin moves styled after their college and pro heroes, prep basketball players are getting a little too hip, according to many high-school officials.

A new national rule this season says high-school players must show a little respect by tucking in their shirts and hiking their shorts up to the waist, where officials say they belong.

The rule targets baggy shorts worn below the hips, a style called "saggin'." High-school kids have copied the look of Michigan's freshman class of 1992 and, before them, from Chicago's Michael Jordan.

In Michigan, players call it the Jalen Rose Rule, after the Detroit Southwestern alumnus and trash-talkin', finger-pointin', big-shorts-wearin' guard for the Wolverines.

To get the baggy look of the Michigan players, whose shorts are 4 inches longer than the traditional style, high-school players have been pulling their pants down and letting their shirts hang out.

Officials with the National Federation of State High Schools in Kansas City, Mo., insist saggin' poses a serious threat to the game. Dick Schindler, assistant director of the federation, said dangling shirt tails were sloppy and pulled-down shorts were downright disgusting.

"In many cases, the pants were pulled down so far that it became embarrassing to the people by the anatomy that was showing," Schindler said. "I don't think that anyone sitting in the stands wants to see cracks on the rear-ends of players."

Brian Dukes, who plays for Chamblee High School in Atlanta's northeast suburbs, said that assessment is a bit much.

"They're not down that far," he said. "Just right below the waist. I don't know why they're putting a dress code on basketball. The object of the game is to put the ball in the hoop."

Kurt Keener, who coached former Michigan star Chris Webber at Detroit Country Day High School, said he has heard grumblings among black players that the rule is aimed at them.

"This is something that's prevalent in urban areas that the black kids like," Keener said. "They see it as just another example of the powers that be, who are not black, imposing their values."

Schindler said race "was never a part of the discussion."

After Rose graduated from Southwestern in 1991, the Detroit public schools passed a rule outlawing saggin'. Violators can be kicked out for the rest of the game.

The national federation's rule calls for a violator to leave the game, cease saggin' and re-enter at the next dead ball.

Bacari Alexander, a senior at Southwestern this season, said he can understand why some are leery of the style.

"I think a lot of older people who officiate find it kind of weird," he said. "I play with a lot of players - black, white, blue, green - it doesn't matter. I've seen Arabs do it before. The reaction is against young folks, not necessarily black folks."

The style also has caught on with some college teams. Georgia Tech's shorts are bigger than usual this year, and players for No. 1 Arkansas are wearing pants that hang down well below the knees.

Some Top 25 programs, like Indiana, are sticking with the traditional look.

There is no NCAA rule on the length of shorts or how they should be worn, said Laurie Bollig, liaison to the NCAA rules committee. A rule passed in 1991 says men and women must tuck in shirts that are designed to be tucked in, she said.

Schindler said basketball isn't the only high-school sport whose athletes aren't staying fully clothed.

"We've had complaints in track and field about athletes finishing their races and pulling their pants down to their ankles," he said. "The thing to do today seems to be to pull your pants down."