Basketball Rules Session
Proper Attire
• Jewelry is prohibited
– Includes rings, watches, necklaces, earrings, ankle
bracelets, rubber bands, belly button rings, nose rings, etc.
– Placing tape over area is not allowed
– Head Bands that are 2” thick or less are Legal. No other
headwear is permitted including hats, beanies, scull caps, tshirt sleeves, etc.
• Casts are prohibited (soft casts are permitted)
• Proper shoes are required
– Tennis shoes ( non-marking rubber soles )
– No barefeet, sandals, open-toed shoes
• Knee braces are permitted with protective covers and must be
approved by the intramural supervisor/athletic trainer
Sportsmanship
• Following each team sport contest, intramural officials
and supervisors will issue sportsmanship points (Will be
reviewed by IM staff to be fair)
• The Intramural Sports Program expects ALL participants
to be sportsmanlike
– Teams must average 3.5 sportsmanship points per contest to be
eligible for playoffs
– Any average below 3.5 during the regular season, the captain
must meet with the Intramural Director in order to possibly
participate in playoffs
– During playoffs, teams must have 4 sportsmanship points to
advance, teams with a 3 or less will be reviewed by the IM staff
to determine if they advance
Sportsmanship Points
• What constitutes what?
5 = NORMAL GAME: Questioning an official on rule interpretation only
4 = SOME STATIC: Some question of judgment or repeated
complaints. No infractions issued
3 = DIFFICULTY: Repeated question of judgment. Unsportsmanlike
call in softball, volleyball, flag football, street hockey; a yellow card
in soccer or technical foul in basketball, failure to clean up trash on
sidelines, dugouts, etc.
2 = HARASSMENT: Multiple unsportsmanlike calls, yellow cards,
technicals (not on same participant) or spectators harassment of the
officials
1 = EJECTION: Any ejection, whatever the cause (2 yellows on same
player or red card)
0 = FORFEIT OR FIGHTING: Included threatening an employee. If
involved in a fight your team could be removed from the league for
the remainder of the season.
Eligibility
• All graduate and undergraduate
students enrolled in at least six (6)
credit hours
• Faculty and staff that are members of
the Rec Center may participate in
Intramurals
Eligibility cont’d
• No Olympic, professional, or varsity athletes in their
respective sports
– Student is considered an athlete, when he/she participates
is listed on the roster of the team
• Includes red-shirted athletes
• The number of former NCAA athletes is limited to 2
per team
– Any person that played an intercollegiate game is not
eligible until 1 academic year after that year that they
participated in
• Participants may only play on 2 total teams
• May play on one team of their gender and one Co-Rec team
• Violation of rule will result in suspension & possible forfeiture
of team
Eligibility cont’d
• Each participant in each intramural sport must:
– Sign the waiver & give accurate information
– Must play 1 regular season game in order to be eligible for playoffs
• Players may not transfer from one team to another once
they have played with a team
– A player wishing to change teams prior to the season and has not
participated may request in writing to the Intramural Manager
• Even by mutual agreement, teams cannot play with an
ineligible player
• Teams that pick up an ineligible player forfeits all games in
which the person participated
• The ineligible player is not allowed to participate and is
suspended until he/she meets with the Intramural
Manager
Season
• Teams will typically play 1-2 games per week
• In order for players to be eligible for playoffs, they must
play in 1 regular season game
– Rosters are frozen after the last regular season games and
teams cannot sign additional players during the playoffs
• Games will scheduled anywhere from a 6pm start to an
11pm start
– Will depend on team’s availability
• Teams over .500 in record and with enough
sportsmanship points automatically qualify for playoffs
– Dependent on the league structure, the intramural department
may qualify other teams to make playoffs
• Due to forfeits, less games scheduled, etc.
Protests
• Only protests based on questions of player eligibility and rule
interpretation will be accepted.
• No protests on judgment calls are permitted.
• Protests must be made at the time of the incident (report to
supervisor)
– Once play is restarted, the situation cannot be protested (unless for
player eligibility)
• Upheld protests will be replayed from point of rule infraction
– Exception: ineligible players will result in a win by forfeit
• During playoffs, if protest is deemed valid on ineligible player,
protesting team advances, but all previous rounds remain the
same
Forfeits
• Game time is start time!
– Teams are penalized 3 points per minute after start time
• Maximum of 4 minute grace period (maximum 12-0 lead)
• Teams signed in can choose not to take points
• Winning team must have their lineup with the
minimum amount of players by start time
– Must have players on field checked in (not putting on cleats,
showing ID’s, running to field, etc.)
• Forfeited teams must pay half the registration fee in
order to play their next contest
– Forfeit will count against their season record
– Money must be turned in by game time of their next contest.
NO EXCEPTIONS!!!
Forfeits
• Both teams may forfeit same contest
• Teams forfeiting twice will be removed from the
league for the rest of the season
• ONLY EXCEPTIONS FOR 5 MINUTE GRACE
PERIOD
– If the majority of the team had another intramural sport 1
hour prior to scheduled contest
• Game running over, IM Supervisors will wait until the minimum
amount of players show up to start game
• Example: Team A had a flag football game at 7pm that is
running late, if Team A has a basketball game at 8pm, the IM
Supervisors will wait until there are 4 people (minimum to start)
at the court to start the game
– If the game prior to your contest runs over the 1 hour period,
the teams scheduled will be expected to start ASAP
• A 5 minute grace period starts a the conclusion of the prior
game.
Equipment
• The Intramural Department will provide the
ball and officials
– Players that have a ball checked out, must
check it back in to get their ID back to sign-in.
Intramural Basketball Rules
• Any rules not covered by Rowan
Intramurals will follow NFHS guidelines
• Teams consist of five players
– Need at least 4 to start
– Teams may play with less than 4 if a player
is injured
– In order to win by forfeit, one team must
have 4 players signed in by game time
Basketball Rules (cont.)
• The Players
– No participants may be varsity basketball players including
Prop 48 and practice squad players
– All players must show a valid Rowan-ID each contest in
order to be eligible
• Players must show ID, not the captains gathering all the ID’s for
the supervisor/scorekeeper
– For those coming after game time, they must show ID to
scorekeeper to check-in (wait to do at dead ball)
• Illegal players will result in a technical foul and ejection of the
guilty player & possible forfeiture of the team
– Captain and illegal player must meet with Intramural Director
Basketball Rules (cont.)
• Player Equipment
– Jewelry of any kind
• Penalty: Technical foul.
– Scorers will issue pinnies if needed. The number
will be noted on the scorecard.
• There CANNOT be players with a zero and double-zero
on the same team.
– Failure to return a pinnie, or proper evidence of
destruction of the pinnie, will result in that player
being removed from the league.
– It is strongly recommended that all teams have
the same colored shirts with numbers (3’’ high)
on the front and/or back of the shirt.
Basketball Rules (cont.)
• The Game
– Two 18-minute halves
• Running clock first 16 minutes of the Each Half.
• Halftime will be 3 minutes
• Clock stops the last 2 minutes of each half for all dead ball
situations, timeouts, & officials timeouts
– Exception: Running clock if a team is winning by 30 or more points
in the last 2 minutes of the game
• Mercy Rule
– Anytime a team is winning by 50+ points in the second half
– NO PRESSING IF UP BY 20 POINTS IN SECOND HALF
• Will be warned, but after warnings, is a technical foul
Basketball Rules (cont’d)
• Timeouts
– 3 per Game, If no timeouts are used in the first half
they will carry over to the second half.
– Time-outs may only be called by the team with
possession of the ball or during a dead ball situation.
Only players that are in the game may call a time-out.
Bench personnel and coaches may not call time-out.
– Time-outs in excess of the allotted number will result
in a technical foul
– Teams will receive 1 timeout per overtime
Basketball Rules (cont’d)
• Overtime
– 4 minute running clock until the last minute of play
– During the regular season, only 1 overtime period will
be played. During playoffs, overtimes will be played
until a winner is declared. There will be a 1 minute
intermission after each overtime period
– 1 timeout in overtime (timeouts from regulation do not
carry over)
Basketball Rules (cont’d)
• Substitutions
– Substitutions may only occur after the whistle, or at
halftime AND all substitutes must report to the scorer.
Failure to report to the scorer will result in a technical
foul.
• On multiple shot free throws, that person may not enter until
prior to the last free throw
– A player cannot enter the game during play.
• If a player enters during play, he/she will receive a technical
foul
Substitutions
• All substitutes must report to the scorer table prior to
entering
• Work with scorekeeper to recognize when subs are at
the table
• On a 2 shot foul: only substitute after the 1st shot
– Sub on 1st shot of 1 on 1 or 1 shot foul
• Running on court without acknowledgement of the official
is a technical foul: Must beckon players on
• A player cannot enter during play
• Use preventative officiating and count players to
ensure proper number before starting play after dead
ball
Basketball Rules (cont’d)
• Fouls
– A player shall be allowed 5 personal fouls per game. On the fifth
personal, that player shall be removed from the game.
– A personal foul is a player foul that involves illegal contact with
an opponent while the ball is live, which hinders an opponent
from performing normal defensive and offensive movements.
– Two technical fouls against a player or coach result in immediate
ejection of that person from the game.
– Slapping either backboard or grabbing the rim is a technical foul.
Dunking is not allowed before, during, or after a contest.
• Participants that violate this will be
assessed a technical foul.
Fouls
• Players in the act of shooting that are fouled
(basket missed) will be given 2-3 free throws
– If a basket is made in the act of shooting w/ a foul: only 1 shot
– On 7 fouls or after a player will shoot a 1 on 1
• Exception (Player Control and Team Control Fouls)
– On 10 fouls or more, a player will shoot 2 free throws
• Exception (Player Control and Team Control Fouls)
• Player Control Foul & Team Control Foul
– No free throws (basket dis-allowed) and possession given
to opposing team at spot of foul
• Use preventative officiating when assessing fouls
and technicals: talk to players and prevent situations
Fouls
• Technical Foul
– 2 free throws and retain possession at out of bounds at midcourt
– 2 Technical fouls on a player/coach results in
disqualification/ejected player: cannot play until meets with IM
director
– Dunking before, during, and after game is not permitted
– Slapping the backboard, or grabbing the rim is not allowed
• Can grab rim to prevent injury (player below)
• Intentional Foul
– 2 free throws and retain possession at point of interruption
• Flagrant Foul (Technical Foul & Automatic Ejection)
– 2 free throws and retain possession at point of interruption
Miscellaneous
• For what situations are
technical fouls assessed?
– Abusive language or conduct
towards opponents or officials
– Cursing loudly (either to self or
anyone else)
– Delay of game
– Intentionally slapping backboard
and any dunking
– Illegal substitution
– Fans are out of control
– Player is caught wearing illegal
equipment
– Players constantly complaining
about calls
• Only the captain should speak to
the officials
 Tips


for officiating
Be confident in calls
Call handchecking and push in back on
rebounds early and often
Lane Spaces
– Players must wait for ball to hit the rim
to move
• Includes players outside FT line
extended
– Penalty for defense and offense
violations
Required
• Max of 4 defensive players and 2
offensive players
• The first two spaces by the baseline
MUST be occupied by defensive
players
• The two spaces next to the shooter
must remain empty
X O X
X
X O X
• Marked spaces
– In too early
– Faking coming in • Shooter:
– Hold for more
– Disconcertion
• Others
– In too early
– Disconcertion
than 10 seconds
– Cross line before
ball hits rim
– Shoot an air ball.
Out of Bounds
• The rafters/ceiling
• Behind the backboard
• Metal Support and
wires
– If the ball hits the top of the
backboard and comes back
into play it is NOT out of
bounds.
– However if the ball hits the top
of the backboard and goes
over, it is out of bounds.
Co-Rec Basketball Rules
• The Players
• Each team shall consist of five players, 3 females and 2
males, or 3 males and 2 females. A minimum of 2
females and 2 males can be used to start a game and
continue play throughout the course of the game.
Exception: Three players are allowed if an individual
cannot continue due to an injury or he/she has fouled out
of the game. However, there must always be at least one
member of each sex represented on the team.
• Equipment
• A men's or women's ball may be used. If teams cannot
agree on a ball, a coin toss will determine which ball is
used.
Co-Rec Basketball Rules(cont’d)
• Scoring
• Three points will be awarded when a female
makes a shot inside the three-point line. Two
points will be awarded when a male makes a
shot inside the three-point line. Four points will
be awarded when a female makes a shot from
behind the three-point line. Three points will be
awarded when a male makes a shot from
behind the three-point line.
Co-Rec Basketball Rules(cont’d)
• Free Throws
• All free throws shot by a female are worth 2
points. A female fouled in the act of shooting from
inside the three-point line will receive two free
throws worth 2 points each, a male would receive
two free throws worth 1 point each. A female
fouled in the act of shooting from beyond the
three-point line will receive three free throws
worth 2 points each, a male would receive three
free throws worth 1 point each.
Co-Rec Basketball Rules(cont’d)
• Male Lane Restrictions
– MEN ARE NOT PERMITTED TO ENTER THE
LANE ON EITHER END OF THE COURT.
EXCEPTION MAY BE MADE AT THE DISCRETION
OF THE OFFICIALS IF A MALE IS PASSING
UNDER THE BASKET OR IS
BUMPED/MOMENTUM CARRIES THAT PLAYER
INTO THE LANE. ANY SHOT ATTEMPTED BY A
MALE INSIDE THE LANE WILL BE DISALLOWED
AND POSSESSION WILL BE GIVEN TO THE
OTHER TEAM UNDER THE BASKET.
Basics of Basketball Officiating
• Must never start play if
partner is not ready and
make eye contact
• Don’t assume!
Anticipate
• Always do 5 and 10
second count every
time, just in case
• Always box in the play
• Stay behind or parallel
to ball

Mechanics/Calls

Make the basic calls


Confidence/Use of Voice



Don’t look for insignificant or rare calls
Whistle and Crisp mechanics
Work on signals
Rapport with Players




Command Respect but be respectful
Communicate with captain
Warn players before ejecting
Don’t socialize with one group over
another
Captain’s Meeting
•
•
•
•
Introduce selves and shake hands with captain’s
What to look for: jewelry, headwear, knee braces, casts
Look for player tendencies
NO DUNKING: AUTOMATIC TECHNICAL FOUL
– Before, during, and after the game
• Discuss that only captain’s should speak to officials
– Tell them that they can calmly discuss situations at dead ball
incidences, injuries, or time-outs
• Wish the teams a good game
Violations
• Kicking – striking the ball with the knee or any part of the leg
or foot below the knee. Only when it is an intentional act is it a
violation
• Backcourts – when a team with control in the front court
throws the ball into the backcourt that was last touched by their
team.
• Traveling – moving a foot or feet in any direction in excess of
prescribed limits while holding the ball
• 3 seconds – a player may not be in the free throw lane for
more than 3 seconds
• Closely Guarded – a player may not hold/dribble the ball for
more than 5 seconds while in his/her frontcourt when a
defender is closely guarding within 6 feet
Violations
*Blow whistle, with hand up simultaneously w/ open palm*
SIGNAL FOR OUT OF
BOUNDS AND
DIRECTION
• Travel: so many ways
• Backcourt Violation
• Three-second Violation
• Five-second Violation
– Closely guarded
• Ten-second Violation
• Kickball
• Double Dribble
 Three-point
attempt and good
 Close three-pointer that is a
two-pointer
 Directional Point
 Jump Ball
 Goaltending/ Basket
Interference
 Carry or Palming
 Timeout
 Throw-In Violation
Fouls…
• Block - blocking is illegal personal contact
which impedes the progress of an opponent
with or without the ball
• Illegal Contact (Hit) – hitting the arm of the
dribbler/shooter
– Allow players to block shots though
• Charge - charging is illegal personal contact
caused by pushing or moving into an
opponent's torso
– No points can be scored on a player control
foul
• Shooting Fouls – the try starts when the player
begins the motion which habitually precedes the
release of the ball (continuation)
Fouls
• Illegal Screens – a player who uses contact to delay or prevent
a player from reaching a desired position
• Intentional Fouls - contact away from the ball or when not
playing the ball; excessive contact; a foul designed to keep the
clock from starting
– Result?
• Points on Player Control - a common foul committed by a
player while he/she is in control of the ball or by an airborne
shooter; the points will be waived
– Ex: charge, illegal offensive screen
• Ejections – two technical fouls will result in an automatic
ejection; flagrant fouls will result in an automatic ejection; two
ejections will result in a forfeit
Basket Interference
• Occurs when a player touches the ball or any
part of the basket while the ball is on or within
the basket; touches the ball while any part of
the ball is within the imaginary cylinder which
has the basket from ring as its lower base;
reaches through the basket from below and
touches the ball before it enters the cylinder;
pulls down a movable ring so that it contacts
the ball before the ring returns to its original
position
• Result?
Goaltending
• Goaltending – occurs
when a player touches
the ball during a field goal
try or tap while:
– The ball is in
downward flight
– The entire ball is
above the level of the
basket ring
Result?