2004-05 NFHS Rules Changes

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

As many of you know, I frequently have to climb up into my attic to go through file boxes to find an obscure Case Book Play from 1971-72, so with this year’s Vernal Equinox I finally decided that I would start the Herculean project of downloading 53 years of basketball officiating and 32 years of baseball and softball umpiring to my computer. I have divided the project into three sub-projects:

Sub-Project I: Organizing and editing everything that I have on my current desktop hard drive (since January 2004 to June 2024) which I transferred to my laptop, which I am doing right now.

Sub-Project II: Scanning into my laptop everything that is not currently in the attic.

Sub-Project III: Scanning into my laptop everything that is in the attic.

Sub-Project IV: Transferring, organizing, and editing everything from my two previous desktop hard drives. But I digress, !

While going through the 2004-05 NFHS Basketball Rules files over this past weekend I came across an interesting document. It is a list of proposed Rules being considered by the NFHS Bkb. Rules Committee for 2004-05. It was posted here by NevadaRef on Thu., Apr. 22, 2004, 01:29amEDT (this past Monday was the 20th Anniversary of the thread's start) and the link is: https://forum.officiating.com/basket...revisions.html, and includes a discussion about the changes that have been proposed. NevadaRef, JRut, and Camron Rust commented back then and are still with us 20 years later.

The following is the list proposed changes:

1. R1-S5-A2: Remove the requirement for contrasting lane lines and lane space marks.

2. R1-S13-A2: Delete the phrase mandating that the coaching box lines contrast with the OOB lines.

3. R1-S13-A2: Standardize the length of the coaching box nationally, instead of allowing the state associations to choose 6 or 14. Doesn't say what the standard length would be.

4. R2-S1-A1: Permit the use of the grey shirt for officials.

5. R2-S12-A5: Change the time for the replacement of a player to 15 seconds with a warning horn at 10 seconds.

6. R3-S4-A6 Note: Require the home team to wear WHITE, the visiting team shall wear dark uniforms.

7. R4-S6: Allow the offense to commit BI without penalty.

8. R4-S10: Drop the closely guarded rule entirely.

9. R4-S10: Drop the closely guarded count while dribbling.

10. R4-S29: Making kicking include the whole leg, not just the knee or below.

11. R4-S35-A4: Allow the airborne player exception to the backcourt violation to also apply if the airborne player passes the ball to a teammate before returning to the floor.

12. R5-S5: Play the game in two 16-minute halves.

13. R5-S5: Play the game in two 18-minute halves.

14. R5-S5-A1: Allow the playing of halves instead of quarters to be a state assn. adoption.

15. SR5-S8-A3a: Don't permit an airborne player to call time-out.

16. R5-S11-A1: Allow one TO to be used for substitution only, not requiring the full time to be used.

17. R7-S5-A9: On double personal or double technical fouls, put the ball back in play at POI, instead of using the arrow.

18. R8-S1-A3b: Use the NCAA Women’s free throw line up, players must still wait for the ball to hit the ring or backboard before entering the lane.

19. R8-S1-A3b: Use the NCAA Women’s free throw line up and allow players to enter upon the release.

20. R8-S1-A3b: Allow the player in the first marked lane space (nearest the end line) to stand on the block (NCAA Men’s).

21. R9-S2-A11 Note: If a held ball occurs during a throw-in because the thrower holds the ball through the plane, consider it an OOB violation on the thrower. Reverse the arrow if it was an AP throw-in. Team B will now be given the ball for a throw-in.

22. R9-S10-A3b: Stop the closely guarded count if the defenders switch, instead of continuing the count when a second defender takes over the guarding duty.

23. R9-S14: Permit the use of a shot clock by state assn. adoption.

24. R10-S3-A7d: Make it a technical foul to purposely obstruct the vision of an opponent by placing hands near his/her eyes, whether or not the opponent has the ball.

25. 10-S4-A4: Include a provision for players who leave the bench during an altercation (not just a fight). The penalty would be the same as for a fight = flagrant T.

26. Signal Chart: Add the NCAA signal for not closely guarded.

As I went back and read the thread I was surprised that, despite 2003-04 being my 33rd year officiating boys’/girls’ H.S., my 30th year officiating women’s college, and my 11th year officiating men’s jr. college, I did not comment on any proposed rule, especially #8, #9, and #26.

None-the-less, here are the proposals that were adopted for 2004-05:

R1-S5-A2: Deletes the requirement for contrasting colored lines for the lane spaces/neutral zone and lane boundary lines.

R1-S13-A2: Deletes the requirement for the coaching box line to contrast with the boundary lines.

R3-S4-A6 Note: Beginning in 2007-08, the home team will be required to wear white jerseys and the visiting team dark jerseys.

R4-S29: Expanded kicking rule to include intentionally striking the ball with any part of the leg or foot.

R10-S3-A7d: Expanded rule pertaining to obstructing an opponent’s vision to include the player with the ball.

R10-S4-A4: Added that bench personnel will be charged with a flagrant foul if they leave the confines of the bench when a fight may break out.

The following proposals were adopted by the Rules Committee:

#1 (R1-S5-A2)

#2 (R1-S13-A2)

#6 (R3-S4-A6 Note)

#10 (R4-S29)

#24 (R10-S-A)

#25 (R10-S4-A4)

MTD, Sr.

[BillyMac]

Wow!