National Federation of State
High School Associations
NFHS Basketball
2014-15
Rules Changes
Major Editorial Changes
Points of Emphasis
Take Part. Get Set For Life.™
National Federation of State
High School Associations
2014-15
NFHS
Basketball Information
Take Part. Get Set For Life.™
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National Federation of State
High School Associations
NFHS Basketball
2014-15
Rules Changes
Take Part. Get Set For Life.™
Arm sleeves, knee sleeves, lower leg
sleeves and tights are permissible
(3-5-3)
 Anything worn on the arm and/or
leg is a sleeve, except a knee
brace, and shall meet the color
restrictions.
 The sleeves/tights shall be black,
white, beige or the predominant
color of the uniform and the same
color sleeves/tights shall be worn
by teammates.
Arm sleeves, knee sleeves, lower leg
sleeves and tights are permissible
(3-5-3)
All sleeves/tights shall be the same
solid color.
 Meet the logo requirements – not to
exceed 2 ¼ square inches with no
dimension more than 2 ¼ inches.
 Note: In general, a brace is defined
as anything that contains hinges
and/or straps or an opening over
the knee cap.

Team Member’s Apparel
Rule 3-5-3
Arm, knee and lower-leg sleeves, and tights, are permissible
without a medical reason as long as they meet the rules
book specifications .
© REFEREE ENTERPISES INC. 2012
Team Member’s Apparel
Rule 3-5-3
ILLEGAL
LEGAL
All players of the team must have the same color sleeves or
tights, if worn.
© REFEREE ENTERPISES INC. 2012
Intentional Foul
(4-19-3d)
 An INTENTIONAL FOUL includes
excessive contact with an opponent
while the ball is live or until an
airborne shooter returns to the floor.
Intentional Foul
Rule 4-19-3d
Excessive contact committed by any player should be ruled
as an intentional foul.
© REFEREE ENTERPISES INC. 2012
Intentional Foul
Rule 4-19-3d
Excessive contact committed by any player should be ruled
as an intentional foul.
© REFEREE ENTERPISES INC. 2012
Player Occupying a Marked Lane Space
(9-1-3g)
 A player occupying a marked lane
space may not have either foot beyond
the vertical plane of the outside edge of
any lane boundary, or beyond the
vertical plane of any edge of the space
(2 inches by 36 inches) designated by a
lane-space mark.
Player Occupying a Marked Lane Space
(9-1-3g)
 A player shall position one foot near
the outer edge of the free-throw
lane line.
 The other foot may be positioned
anywhere within the designated 36inch lane space until the ball has
been released.
Players in Lane Spaces
(9-1-3g)
 On a free throw, players in the lane spaces
are allowed to enter the lane upon the release
of the ball by the free thrower.
 All other players behind the free throw line
extended and the three point line, including
the free thrower, are required to wait until the
free throw touches the ring or backboard or
the free throw has ended before entering the
lane.
Free Throw Provisions
Rule 9-1-3g
LEGAL
ILLEGAL
LEGAL
Free throw restrictions apply to players in the marked lane
spaces until the ball is released by the free thrower; and for
the free-thrower or players outside of marked lane spaces
until the ball touches the ring or backboard or the free throw
ends.
© REFEREE ENTERPISES INC. 2012
Contact
(10-12) New
 The following acts constitute a foul when
committed against a ball handler/dribbler:
• Placing two hands (front/back of hand) on
the player
• Placing an extended arm bar (forearm that
is away from the body) on the dribbler
• Placing and keeping a hand on the dribbler
• Contacting the player more than once with
the same hand or alternating hands.
Contact
Rule 10-6-12 (New)
A personal foul is must be ruled when illegal contact occurs
on a player holding or dribbling the ball.
© REFEREE ENTERPISES INC. 2012
National Federation of State
High School Associations
NFHS Basketball
2014-15
Major Editorial Changes
Take Part. Get Set For Life.™
Pantone Matching System (PMS)
(1-12a)
 The basketball’s solid color shall be
Pantone Matching System (PMS)
Orange 151, Red-Orange 173 or
Brown 1535.
Ball
Rule 1-12a
BROWN 1535
RED-ORANGE 173
ORANGE 151
The change specifies the ball color using Pantone Matching
System numbers for the three colors allowed, effective
2019-20.
© REFEREE ENTERPISES INC. 2012
National Federation of State
High School Associations
NFHS Basketball
2014-15
Points of Emphasis
Take Part. Get Set For Life.™
Announcer Responsibilities
 The announcer shall be prohibited
from making an announcement:
• while the clock is running and
• while the clock is stopped and
the ball is live…such as during a
free throw, a throw in, etc.
 Doing so could potentially affect
communication between coaches
and players or be disconcerting.
Announcer Responsibilities
 The announcer shall be prohibited from
interrupting the game through the use of
the microphone unless there is an
emergency.
 Announcements or comments shall be
made during those times when there is
a stoppage of the clock and the ball is
not live, such as time outs, between
quarters, pre-game, half time and post
game.
Announcer Responsibilities
 The announcer is allowed to announce
basic information that does not potentially
affect the play in general, the players, the
coaches, or the officials. The announcer’s
information is not official information and
could be misinformation shared with all.
 Appropriate training of announcers by
school personnel and proper pre-game
instructions by the referee are necessary.
May be Announced - Examples:
 Player who scored
 Player charged with foul
 Player attempting free throw
 Team granted a time out
 Length of time out: 30 seconds or 60
seconds
 Player entering game
 Team Rosters
Shall not be Announced –
Examples:
 Number of points player scored
 Number of fouls on player
 Number of team fouls
 Number of team time outs or number
remaining
 Time remaining in the quarter/game
 Type of foul or violation
 Emphatic 2 or 3 point goal
Announcer Responsibilities
 The announcer’s role does not include
“cheering the home team on” or
otherwise inciting the crowd. Doing so
is common at other levels of athletic
events. But high school athletics is
different because sports are
educationally based.
 In a very real sense, the public address
announcer at a high school event is a
“Champion of Character”.
Announcer Responsibilities
 He/she can influence the atmosphere of
the contest by what is said and how it is
said.
 The announcer who performs
professionally promotes good
sportsmanship by what he/she says and
how he/she acts upon saying it.
Announcer
The announcer shall be prohibited from making additional
announcements during the game that can easily be seen on
a scoreboard and beyond the normal realm of
announcements.
© REFEREE ENTERPISES INC. 2012
Correctable Error:
Officials may correct an error if a rule is
inadvertently set aside and results in:
• Failure to award a merited free throw.
• Awarding an unmerited free throw.
• Permitting a wrong player to attempt a free
throw.
• Attempting a free throw at the wrong
basket.
• Erroneously counting or cancelling a score.
Correctable Errors
Five errors are recognized in the rules book. Officials are
granted the power within a certain window of time to make
these corrections.
© REFEREE ENTERPISES INC. 2012
Frontcourt and Backcourt Ball
Status:
 The status of the ball when considering
whether it is in the frontcourt or
backcourt is determined by the location
of the object that the ball last touched
inbounds as long as there is team
control inbounds, be it a player, official
or the playing court.
Frontcourt and Backcourt Status
 The location of a player is determined
by where the player is touching the floor
or, in the case of the airborne player,
where the player was last in contact with
the floor.
Ball Status
 When an airborne player gains possession
of the ball during a throw in or a jump ball,
the player is considered to have no status
as related to frontcourt or backcourt if
he/she (and only that player) returns to the
floor possessing the ball.
 The location where he/she lands will
determine the location of the player and
the ball.
Frontcourt and
Backcourt Status
Until a player gains control of the ball during a throw-in or
jump ball, there is no frontcourt or backcourt status. When
possession is gained, location of the player determines
frontcourt or backcourt status of the ball.
© REFEREE ENTERPISES INC. 2012
Frontcourt and Backcourt Ball
Status:
 The ball is considered to remain in
the backcourt while a player is
dribbling the ball until both feet of
that player and the ball have been
in contact with the frontcourt.
Backcourt
Rule 9-9-1
Clarified example of a backcourt violation.
© REFEREE ENTERPISES INC. 2012
Frontcourt and
Backcourt Status
In (1), the player with her pivot foot (right foot) in the
backcourt can pivot the left foot into the frontcourt and then
to the backcourt in (2) without committing a violation. In (3),
the player uses her front foot or left foot as her pivot foot and
pivots into the frontcourt. However, when she now touches
the backcourt in (4), it is a violation.
© REFEREE ENTERPISES INC. 2012
Frontcourt and Backcourt Ball
Status:
 It is recommended to review case
plays 4-4-1 and 9-9-1, Situations AE, in the Case Book.
 These cases present situations that
assist in explaining the status of the
ball and player when considering
backcourt violations.
Team Control Status During Throw in;
Team Control Status Inbounds
 Since a 2011-12 rule change, team control
exists during a throw in when the thrower
in has the ball at her/his disposal.
 The change was made ONLY to eliminate
the penalty of administering free throw(s)
when a teammate of the thrower in
commits a common foul during the throw in
Team Conrol Status Inbounds
 The change made the penalty
consistent with the penalty for other
team control fouls.
 The penalty now is the awarding of a
throw in to the opposing team at the
spot out-of-bounds nearest to where the
foul occurred.
Team Control Status During Throw in;
Team Control Status Inbounds
NOTE:
 Team control during a throw in is not intended
to be equated to player control status
inbounds which creates team control status
inbounds.
 During the throw in, 10-seconds, 3-seconds,
frontcourt status, backcourt status, closely
guarded, etc. are not factors as there has yet
to be player control/team control status
obtained inbounds.
Team Control
on Throw-In
A team is in control of the ball when the ball is at the
disposal of the player for the throw-in. The penalty for a
common foul committed by the throw-in team is a teamcontrol foul and does not warrant free-throw shots.
© REFEREE ENTERPISES INC. 2012
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High School Associations
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