We’re several months from having to worry about high school basketball season coming around. However, when basketball season makes its return…things are going to look a little different when it comes to free throws. For as long as I can remember, high school basketball has always had the “One-and-One” rule when it comes to fouls and free throws. However, starting this season, high school basketball will be doing away with that and moving to something else.
For those who don’t know what that is, the “One-and-One” rule is after a team’s 7th foul in a half (no matter when that foul takes place), if a player was fouled on a non-shooting play, the player who was fouled on the play would go to the line and shoot what is called a One-and-One. If they made the 1st free throw, the player would receive a 2nd. However, if the player missed the first free throw, the teams would fight for the rebound and the trip to the line was concluded. The one-and-one would then occur after the 7th, 8th, and 9th fouls in each half and then after the 10th foul and any fouls after that, the player who was fouled would receive 2 free throws regardless of if the 1st free throw was good or not. Both high school and college have been using this method for as long as I can remember. However, after this season, that method will be a thing of the past in high school basketball.
Starting this upcoming basketball season, a new rule will be put into place in regards to fouls and free throws. The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) agreed on adopting a new rule change that would now set foul limits for each QUARTER (not half like in years past) for awarding the bonus free throw. What’s going to happen is the one-and-one will cease to exist. Starting next season, if a team commits 5 fouls in a quarter, the player who was fouled will receive 2 free throws. Then, at the end of every quarter, the team fouls will reset. This is a similar method to what the NBA does in that they have a limit and then after a team reaches that limit, it’s 2 free throws. The new rule change was approved by the NFHS Basketball Rules Committee last month and was then approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.
NFHS Director of Sports and liasison to the Basketball Rules Committee said, “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. Additionally, resetting the fouls after each quarter will improve the game flow and allow teams to adjust their play by not carrying foul totals to quarters 2 and 4.”
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 players 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.
