There will be a significant change to high school basketball around the country next season. The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) basketball rules committee has eliminated one-and-one free throws at the high school level, per MaxPreps.
Moving forward, teams will enter the bonus when their opponent commits five fouls in a quarter. From there, teams will shoot two free throws, and the fouls will reset at the end of each quarter.
Under the previous rule, teams earned one-and-one free throws when their opponent committed seven fouls in a half. They were awarded two free throws after their opponent hit 10 fouls in a half.
Lindsey Atkinson, the NFHS Director of Sports and liaison to the Basketball Rules Committee, said this is a chance to reduce injuries on rebounds. In addition to that, the flow of the game should be better now that team foul totals won't roll over into the second and fourth quarters.
"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," Atkinson said. "Additionally, resetting the fouls after each quarter will improve game flow and allow teams to adjust their play by not carrying foul totals to quarters two and four."
The NFHS also announced changes pertaining to throw-in locations on front-court violations, allowing players to step out of bounds and come back in without gaining an advantage, uniform requirements, and the location of shot clock operators.
