2008-09 NFHS BASKETBALL RULES CHANGES (Summary)
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Beginning
next season, all players will move up one lane space during
a free-throw attempt. A new mark will be applied to the lane
line near the free-throw line to designate the last 3-foot
marked lane space.
The
committee reviewed data from the Georgia High School Association,
which experimented with the free-throw lane change last year.
"According
to data from the experiment, the number of fouls during free-throw
rebounding action was reduced," said Mary Struckhoff,
NFHS assistant director and staff liaison to the Basketball
Rules Committee. "At the same time, defensive rebounding
percentages fell within an acceptable range. This data was
the most compelling the committee had seen to date."
Perhaps
as significant as the changes approved by the committee was
one that was not. After much discussion, the committee voted
against the use of instant replay to review specific situations
during state tournaments. Three proposals were considered
by the committee this year after three states had last-second
shots in championship games.
"The
committee discussed the issue extensively, but there was very
little support for implementing video review at the high school
level," Struckhoff said. "Some felt the use of video
to review officials' decisions is against the philosophy of
high school sports.
"Others said that video review doesn't always provide
a conclusive decision, and the equipment would not be consistently
available in facilities throughout the country. The committee
also felt it would be difficult for officials to officiate
without replay throughout the season and then be expected
to use it at a state championship."
Another
significant change approved by the committee will directly
affect high school coaches. If a player is wearing an illegal
jersey, illegal pants/skirt and/or an illegal number, a technical
foul will be charged directly to the head coach. Previously,
one technical foul was assessed to each improperly uniformed
player per team.
Improvements
have been made in ordering and purchasing legal uniforms,
and the NFHS is working with manufacturers to improve compliance
with NFHS uniform design specifications. Struckhoff said the
committee wants to encourage and promote the use of legal
uniforms.
"In
the past few years, there has been a proliferation of illegal
uniforms worn by teams, and the committee wanted to put the
penalty where it belonged," Struckhoff said.
The
committee also clarified Rule 3-5-3 to state "any item
that goes around the entire head (elastic strips/bands, pre-wrap,
headbands, etc.) shall meet the rule requirements regarding
color, maximum size, logo restrictions and team uniformity."
The committee also added black and beige to the list of legal
colors. The change was made to make the rule more consistent
in application and enforcement.
Other editorial
changes approved by the committee:
- Rule 3-4 was reorganized
to separate the topics by articles and adjust the language
to reflect current industry standards/terminology.
- In Rule 4-27-2, a
portion of the first sentence of the "incidental contact"
definition will be removed to clarify that a foul should
be called when displacement occurs while opponents attempt
to secure a loose ball.
- Rule 4-42-5 will be
reorganized into sub-articles for clarity.
- Rule 10-5 will be
reorganized for better understanding and clarity.
The
committee also adopted five points of emphasis for the upcoming
season. The identified topics include...
- legal uniforms
- rough play
- time-outs
- slapping the backboard
- and officials' mechanics
and signals.
Basketball
is the second-most popular sport for boys and first for girls
at the high school level, according to the 2006-07 NFHS High
School Athletics Participation Survey, 556,269 boys and 456,967
girls, for a total of 1,013,236 participants nationwide. The
sport ranks first in school sponsorship with 17,762 schools
sponsoring a boys team and 17,458 fielding a girls program.
