High school and college basketball players are considered amateur since they don't get paid to play their sport. Accordingly, many of the rules for amateur basketball differ from the rules of professional basketball. High school rules are governed by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFSHSA), while the National Collegiate Athletic Association governs college play.
Game Play
In high school, the NFSHSA regulates all games to be played in four quarters of 8 minutes each. If the score is tied at the end of the game, a 4-minute overtime is used to determine a winner. College basketball consists of two 20-minute halves, with overtime of 5 minutes, if necessary. Teams start the game shooting at the basket furthest away from their team bench.
Fouls
Personal fouls consist of illegal physical contact with a player or players on the opposing team. In amateur basketball, a player who collects five personal fouls is automatically disqualified from the game. Technical fouls can also count as personal fouls. A player receiving two technical fouls or one flagrant foul during a game is ejected. All personal fouls also count as team fouls. During each half, if a team collects more than six team fouls, the opposing team is awarded bonus free throws for each subsequent foul starting with seven. The player who was fouled on the play is awarded a bonus free throw. If successful, the player is awarded a second free throw. After 10 or more team fouls, the player is automatically awarded two free throws, regardless if the first one is made or not.
Other Rules
A player may not hold or dribble the ball while being closely guarded by an opponent for more than 5 seconds. This is known as a closely-guarded violation. In amateur basketball, closely-guarded is defined as being within 3 feet of the opponent for college basketball and within 6 feet for high school basketball. After a player shoots a free throw, players lined up along the free throw line may enter the lane after the ball is released in college basketball. Players in high school must wait until the ball makes contact with the rim or passes through the rim to enter the lane. After a held ball---when two opposing players get one or more hands on the ball at the same time so that neither player can gain sole possession---play is resumed by an alternating possession arrow, which is set at the beginning of the game. The arrow is set toward the team which did not gain possession off the jump ball to start the game, and switches each time the alternating possession procedure is used.
References
- "Basketball Rules Book"; National Federation of State High School Associations, 2009
- National Collegiate Athletic Association: Basketball Rules
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