2025 - 2026

National Federation of  State High School Associations

Rule Changes


 

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