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One-and-done: Rule change to 2023-24 basketball season
High school basketball teams begin shooting two free throws this season
The Iowa high school basketball season will officially arrive on Friday night, as the 2023-24 girls basketball slate begins regular season play.
Ahead of the new season, there is a little bit of housecleaning to do on a rule change that effects this year.
The main rule change to the 2023-24 season involves free throws. The previous ‘one-and-one’ rule after the seventh foul is no longer in play for either girls or boys, as the Iowa High School Athletic Association and Iowa High School Girls Athletic Union has adopted a rule more commonly found in women’s college basketball and the NBA.
This spring, the National Federation of High School Sports recommended and approved the new rule, which will have teams going to the free-throw line for two free throws every time the bonus hits. Fouls will be reset each quarter, with free throws being awarded on the fifth foul and beyond for each period.
This rule differs from the previous high school basketball rule, which used a ‘single bonus’ starting at the seventh foul, in which players would shoot a ‘one and one,’ which awards the second free throw only in the first one is made. Previously, players didn’t start shooting two free throws until the 10th foul of the half.
Of course, these rules only apply to non-shooting defensive fouls, which would have elicited the ‘one-and-one’ rule previously. As always, shooting fouls will be either two or three free throws, depending on the length of the shot.
NFHS Director of Sports and liaison to the basketball rules committee Lindsey Atkinson said in the spring that the rule change is for player safety purposes.
“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,” said Atkinson. “Additionally, resetting the fouls each quarter will improve game flow and allow teams to adjust their play by not carrying foul totals to quarters two and four.”
The rule change comes just a few years after women’s college basketball got rid of the ‘one-and-one’ in the summer of 2015. Starting in the 2015-16 season, the women’s teams started shooting two free throws after the fifth foul, although the college men still kept the same free throw rules.
At this point in time, only the college men have stuck with the one-and-one. Just a few years ago, the ‘one-and-one’ rule was the most common rule, with professional basketball being the outlier.
The rule change comes just one year after a major pivot came from the IHSAA and IGHSAU on a long-debated shot clock rule. A 35-second shot clock was implemented ahead of last season, and the shot clocks are here to stay in 2023-24.
