4 Guys on the floor....

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by zebraman

Or perhaps because there is no advantage gained from unknowingly having only 4 players returned and no penalty is needed unless the 5th one joins in while the ball is live? I've often wondered why and would like a clarification from NFHS.

Yup, it's not definitively covered, as we've already gone over already several times in different threads. I agree with the logic above that no penalty is listed and there's no need to call a "T" if the fifth player doesn't come on. Playing with 4 players by itself is penalty enough.