NFHS 2025-26 Basketball Comments On The Rules ...

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

I am still not reading where it says the ball must be above the cylinder to be considered a GT.

How can the ball the be "above" the cylinder, the cylinder reaches all the way to the ceiling.

A cylinder has a well defined top, bottom, and sides.

Or did you mean to say, "above the basket ring level", which is already a component of the definition of goaltending?

Goaltending is when a defensive player touches the ball during a try, or tap, while it is in its downward flight, entirely above the basket ring level, outside the imaginary cylinder above the ring, and has the possibility of entering the basket.

That now has one exception.

The new rule just tells us that we no longer have to consider whether a ball that deflects off the backboard is on its way up, or on its way down.

All the other components of goaltending are still in effect, and have not been changed, including touch (now only by the defense), try or tap, above the basket ring level, outside the imaginary cylinder, and possibility of entering the basket.

Just ignore the part about downward flight for a ball that deflects off the backboard, everything else is still in effect, and the play must meet all the other five criteria to be goaltending, including "above the basket ring level".

Absent any one of those five criteria on a ball that deflects off the backboard, and it's not goaltending.