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JR,
I got to thinking about this a bit.
The rule says, "A player shall not leave the floor for an unauthorized reason."
The comment on the rule change says, "leaving the court during the course of play has been increasing with the penalty of a technical foul not being assessed."
Now this doesn't necessarily mean that leaving the court during a dead ball is not also covered by the rule. The comment only states that leaving the court has been an increasing problem during the course of play. One can certainly interpret that to mean that leaving the floor during a dead ball, while illegal, is not an increasing problem. So although it is still illegal, it just hasn't become a big deal in recent years and the NFHS is merely highlighting the leaving during the course of play.
So what we need the NFHS to specify for us is:
1. Is leaving the floor during a dead ball by a player (other than a time-out or intermission) allowed?
2. What is the penalty if this is illegal? A violation, a technical foul, removal from the game temporarily, etc.?
3. What happens if that player has not yet returned when the ball becomes live again?
Right now the answers to these questions are open to interpretation.
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