The one-and-one free throw in high school basketball will be a thing of the past starting next season.
Citing safety concerns, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) adopted a rule change that eliminates the one-and-one free throw and sets new foul limits each quarter for awarding the bonus free throw.
Under current rules, if a team commits seven fouls in a half, the player who was fouled would go to the free-throw line to shoot one free throw. If that free throw was successful, the player would receive a second free throw. This situation was called one-and-one. After 10 fouls in a half, the player who was fouled would receive two free throws, regardless of if the first one was successful or not.
Starting next season, if team commits five fouls in a quarter, the player who was fouled will receive two free throws. At the end of every quarter, the team fouls will reset.
The rule changes were approved by the NFHS Basketball Rules Committee last month and subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors. The rules impact high school basketball played nationwide.
“The rules committee studied data that showed higher injury rates on rebounding situations and saw this as an opportunity to reduce opportunities for rough play during rebounds,” said Lindsey Atkinson, NFHS Director of Sports and liaison to the Basketball Rules Committee. “Additionally, resetting the fouls each quarter will improve game flow and allow teams to adjust their play by not carrying foul totals from quarters two and four.”
Other rules adopted included:
- Simplifying the locations of where the ball may be inbounded from in the frontcourt in the event of a defensive foul or violation.
- Establishes the official placement of the shot clock operator at the scorer’s table of those states that utilize a shot clock.
- Allows teams to wear a single solid color or solid black undershirt under game jerseys. This provides an opportunity for schools with hard-to-find colors to have all plaeyrs wear a black undershirt.
- Amends the rule to allow a player who has stepped out of bounds to return to the court if no advantaged is gained. A player is penalized only if, after returning inbounds, the player is the first to touch the ball or avoids a violation.
