NFHS Proposes Basketball Rule Changes for 2018–2019 High School Season

The National Federation of State High School (NFHS)Associations has just released their proposed changes for the sport of basketball for the 2018–2019 season.

Changes include:

• All basketballs shall have a deeply-pebbled, granulated surface, with horizontally shaped panels bonded tightly to the rubber carcass.
  (Rationale: The additional words give manufacturers a better sense of what a deeply-pebbled cover should look like.)
• A player shall not be th efirst to touch the ball after it has been in team control in the frontcourt, if he/she or a teammate last touched or was touched by the ball in the frontcourt before it went to the backcourt.
  EXCEPTION: Any player located in the backcourt may recover a ball deflected from the frontcourt by the defense.
  (Rationale: To ensure that a team is not unfairly disadvantaged on a deflected pass.)