4-22-1 & 2: This change removes the offensive team from goaltending violations, simplifying enforcement for officials and reducing ambiguity over whether a ball was a shot or a pass. It also encourages more scoring opportunities and minimizes confusion for players and coaches.

Rationale: The change eliminates the possibility of an offensive goaltending violation, which simplifies the rule for officials and players. It removes the need to judge whether a ball in flight is a try or a pass, resulting in clearer enforcement, greater consistency, and more opportunities for scoring plays near the basket.

4-22-3 (NEW): This rule change establishes that once the ball contacts the backboard, it is automatically considered to be on its downward flight. Therefore, if a player touches the ball after it hits the backboard, and the ball has a possibility of entering the basket, it is ruled as goaltending.

This clarification helps protect legitimate shot attempts, reduces rough rebounding situations, and addresses a common rules misconception among coaches and players. It provides officials with a clearer standard for enforcing goaltending in backboard-related plays.

Rationale: This change enhances officiating clarity and protects legitimate shot attempts. It also addresses a common misconception among coaches and players by explicitly defining goaltending, leading to more consistent enforcement.

4-34-1: This rule change updates the definition of a player to clarify that a player is one of the five team members legally on the court at any given time, except during time-outs or intermissions. The change ensures consistency in rule enforcement by recognizing that it is difficult to distinguish between players, substitutes, and bench personnel during time-outs and intermissions. This clarification also supports the accountability of coaches for all team conduct during these periods and helps avoid misapplication of penalties such as technical fouls.

Rationale: This change ensures consistent enforcement of penalties for unsporting conduct by bench personnel. It allows officials to issue technical fouls to bench personnel during time-outs, aligning with the current rules for intermissions. It eliminates confusion and potential misapplication of rules and ensures fair and consistent enforcement of penalties for unsporting behavior, regardless of the individual’s role.

7-5-4: This rule change updates the procedure for determining the designated throw-in spot following a stoppage of play (not due to the ball going out of bounds) in the frontcourt and backcourt. Instead of relying on an imaginary line, officials now use existing court markings, specifically the three-point line, to determine the location. This change improves accuracy, consistency, and clarity for officials by using visible floor markings rather than imaginary lines, which were often misjudged.

Rationale: By using the visible three-point line as the line of demarcation, officials will have a clearer and more consistent method for determining throw-in locations. This improves accuracy and reduces confusion, resulting in more reliable throw-ins.

9-2-12 & 9-3-4 (NEW): This rule change addresses situations where a thrower purposely and/or deceitfully delays returning inbounds after legally stepping out of bounds and then becomes the first player to touch the ball upon re-entering the court. Previously penalized as a technical foul, this action is now treated as a violation, aligning it with similar out-of-bounds scenarios. The change reduces the severity of the penalty to encourage more consistent enforcement by officials and prevents players from gaining an unfair advantage through deceptive re-entry tactics.

Rationale: This change lessens the penalty for players who delay their return after being out of bounds, shifting the penalty from a technical foul to a less severe violation. This rule aligns with the penalty structure of similar violations, such as Rule 9-3-3 (where a player steps out of bounds on their own volition). The change is intended to make it easier for officials to recognize and penalize these actions consistently while reducing the severity of the penalty, encouraging more accurate enforcement.

10-4-4b: This rule prohibits players from illegally contacting the backboard or ring in ways that create an unfair advantage or interfere with a scoring attempt. This rule is designed to maintain fair play and protect the integrity of scoring opportunities by penalizing actions affecting the outcome of a shot, with a technical foul.

Rationale: The rule change aims to standardize and clarify the enforcement of basket interference, leading to fairer outcomes and more consistent officiating. The removal of subjective judgments around intent allows for clearer rulings and better alignment with current game dynamics.

4-6-1a & b (NEW): This rule change clarifies and expands the definition of basket interference to include additional actions that unfairly affect the ball while it is in a scoring position. Basket interference now occurs when a player slaps or strikes the backboard, causing the backboard or basket to vibrate, while the ball is on or within the basket, touching the backboard, or within the cylinder.

Rationale: This clarification helps officials consistently identify interference that affects scoring plays and ensures the integrity of the basket area during shot attempts.

2025-26 Basketball Editorial Changes:

4-19-3c, 4-47, 5.2.1 SITUATION C, 6-3-2a, 6-3-5b, 10-5-2

2025-26 Basketball Points of Emphasis:

1. Bench Decorum and Communication
2. Faking Being Fouled
3. Contact on the Ball Handler

Source: NFHS

1-19: Limits the use of electronic devices used during a game for the purposes of recording and tracking stats, reviewing or diagramming plays, or other similar contest related functions.

Rationale: Clarifies the type of electronic devices that are allowed during the game, prohibiting the use of voice and video recording devices worn during a contest.

2-11-11: Requires the non-official scorer(s) to compare records with the official scorer when multiple scorers are present.

Rationale: Allows the official scorer to remain focused on game activity and places the responsibility of comparing scoring and other bookkeeping information on the auxiliary scorer(s).

3-3-6: Requires a player who has been injured to be removed from the game if the coach is beckoned by the official, whether the coach enters the playing area or not, or if bench personnel (i.e., a coach or athletic trainer) enters the court without being beckoned. The coach may still use a time-out to continue assessment of the injury and keep the injured player in the game.

Rationale: Creates consistency for officials that an injured player is subject to removal from the game when an injury occurs, and the coach/team personnel are beckoned or if they enter the court without an official beckon

3-3-7: Allows 20 seconds for a player to address any minor blood on the body or uniform without leaving the game. If the blood cannot be appropriately covered/cleaned within 20 seconds, the head coach may take a time-out to address the issue or substitute for the player. 

Rationale: Provides a short interval of time to handle a blood related issue without delaying the game, while still addressing the health-related concerns associated with blood on a player.

3-4-4a (NEW): Allows the use of a school logo/mascot image to be centered directly above the uniform number in place of an identifying name.

Rationale: Removes the restriction of allowing only lettering on the front of the jersey.

4**-6-1 EXCEPTION (NEW):** Creates an exception to basket interference by allowing a player(s) to touch only the net while the ball is on or within the basket provided that the contact did not affect the ball.

Rationale: Allows play to continue unless the contact of the net affects the try for goal.

4-47-5 (NEW), 10-2-1g (NEW), 10-4-5b: Changes the penalty for failing to immediately pass the ball to the nearer official when a whistle sounds from a player technical to a warning for delay for the first violation and a team technical for any subsequent offense. 

Rationale: Allows officials to issue a warning before assessing a technical and the technical will now be assessed to the team and not the player, lessening the severity of the penalty while addressing the behavior.

4-49 (NEW), 10-2-1g (NEW), 10-4-6f: Changes the penalty for faking being fouled from a player technical to a warning for the first violation and a team technical for any subsequent offense and adds a definition and examples.

Rationale: Allows officials to issue a warning before assessing a technical and the technical will now be assessed to the team and not the player, lessening the severity of the penalty while addressing the behavior.

7-1-1: Establishes that a player is out of bounds if contact by a teammate or other bench personnel outside the boundary line provides an advantage, allowing the player to remain in bounds.

Rationale: Establishes that a player cannot be assisted from outside the boundary line by teammates or bench personnel to remain in-bounds.

9-10-1a NOTE (NEW), 4-10: Allows state associations to adopt a modification to the closely guarded rule if they have adopted the 35-second shot clock, allowing players to dribble the ball for more than five seconds while closely guarded and maintain that a player may not hold the ball for five or more seconds.

Rationale: Permits states utilizing the 35-second shot clock to allow players to dribble without enforcing the closely guarded rule since they have a 35-second time limit to attempt a try for goal, maintaining an appropriate pace of play.

10-1-1 PENALTY, 10-1-2 PENALTY, 10-2-7 PENALTY (NEW), 10-5-1 PENALTY(NEW): Establishes that all administrative, team and bench technical fouls that occur during pregame offset – no free throws are awarded – and the game will start with a jump ball and the head coach does not lose the privilege of the coaching box.

Rationale: Clarifies that an equal number of technical fouls committed by both teams during pregame offset and establishes how the game will start after offsetting technical fouls.

10-2-7 (NEW), 10-5-1i: Changes the penalty for dunking or attempting to dunk or stuff a dead ball from a bench technical to a team technical.

Rationale: Continues to penalize the offending team with a team technical foul (free-throws, offended team the ball to start the period, a foul added to the team count), but no longer requires the coach to lose the coaching box to start the game and no personal foul is awarded.

2024-25 Basketball Editorial Changes:

1-13-2, 2-2-4 NOTE, 2-10-6, 3-3-1c NOTE, 3-3-7 NOTES 1, 3-4-2a, 3-5-1 NOTE, 3-5-7, 4-12-2 NOTE (NEW), 7-2-1, 7-3-2, 7-6-6, 8-5-3, 9-1 PENALTIES 1c, 9-2-10 NOTE 2 (NEW), 9-2 PENALTIES 1, 9-2 PENALTY, 9-7-1 NOTE (NEW), 9-9-3 NOTE (NEW), 10-4-3, 10-4-6h, 10-5, 10-5-3, Official Signals

2024-25 Basketball Points of Emphasis:

1. Warning for Delay
2. Faking Being Fouled
3. Proper Procedures for Handling Blood

Source: NFHS

2-1-3 NOTE (NEW): Requires the shot clock operator to sit at the scorer’s and timer’s table, if using a shot clock.

Rationale: Establishes the placement of the shot clock operator for those states utilizing the shot clock and the growing use of video boards that allow tablet control from anywhere in the gym.

3-4-5: Requires uniform bottoms on teammates to be like-colored while allowing different styles of uniform bottoms among teammates.

Rationale: Clarifies that teammates must all wear like-colored uniform bottoms but may wear multiple styles while aligning language with other NFHS rules codes.

3-5-6: Allows undershirts worn under visiting team jerseys to be black or a single solid color similar to the torso of the jersey. All teammates wearing undershirts must wear the same solid color.

Rationale: Allows schools with hard-to-find colors to wear black under visiting team jerseys while continuing to require all team members to match.

4-8-1: Eliminates the one-and-one for common fouls beginning with the seventh team foul in the half and establishes the bonus as two free throws awarded for a common foul beginning with the team’s fifth foul in each quarter and resets the fouls at the end of each quarter.

Rationale: Improves flow by providing an opportunity for teams to adjust their play by not carrying over fouls from quarters 1 and 3 to quarters 2 and 4 while significantly reducing the opportunity for correctable  errors to occur. Minimizes risk of injury by eliminating the one-and-one and reducing opportunities for rough play during rebounding opportunities.

7-5-2 thru 4: Establishes four throw-in spots (the nearest 28-foot mark along each sideline or the nearest spot 3-feet outside the lane line on the end line) when a team gains or retains possession in their frontcourt after the opponent commits a violation, a common foul prior to the bonus, or the ball becomes dead (i.e. inadvertent whistle or a held ball).

Rationale: Simplifies throw-in procedure when a team gains or retains possession for situations other than an out-of-bounds throw-in.

7-6-6: Allows the official administering a throw-in to the wrong team to correct the mistake before the first dead ball after the ball becomes live unless there is a change of possession.

Rationale: Allows for a correction of an official’s mistake in a more reasonable timeframe.

9-3-3: Establishes that a player may step out of bounds without penalty unless they are the first player to touch the ball after returning to the court or if they left the court to avoid a violation.

Rationale: Allows a player to step out of bounds if they gain no advantage and penalizes a team only if they gain an advantage by leaving the court and returning to avoid a violation or to be the first to touch the ball.

2023-24 Basketball Editorial Changes:

2-1-1, 4-3-2, 4-19-13, Shot Clock Guidelines

2023-24 Basketball Points of Emphasis:

1. Uniforms, Equipment and Apparel
2. Bench Decorum
3. Throw-Ins – Proper Locations

Source: NFHS