High School Basketball Rules For A Technical Foul

In all levels of basketball play, fouls are personal or technical. Technical fouls are not usually the result of play on the court, but are generally due to a lapse in sportsmanship. From youth leagues to the pros, conduct that results in a technical foul is essentially the same, but the penalties are different. High schools play according to the rules of the National Federation of State High School Associations.

Examples

Any behavior that involves swearing or obscenities, verbal or by gesture, is a technical foul. Arguing with an official or a member of the opposite team will also bring a call for a technical foul. Procedural errors might also result in a technical foul, such as tampering with or making errors in the scorebook and uniform violations. Flagrant fouls, such as extreme unsportsmanlike conduct on the court with the intention of harming another player, are personal and technical. A coach can receive a technical foul if he allows a player back in the game after disqualification, if all his players fail to return to the court in a reasonable amount of time after a timeout, or if he fails to list one of his players on the score sheet.

Who Can Commit One

Players and coaches can be guilty of technical fouls. Players do not have to be on the court and actively playing to commit one -- they can be on the bench. Even trainers or equipment managers can commit technical fouls if they engage in rude or abusive behavior. The coach receives an "indirect" foul based on the conduct of other staff, or a "direct" foul for his own behavior.

Penalties

The opposing team receives two free throws when a coach or player commits a technical foul. They also get possession of the ball after the free throws. The ball is put back into play by a throw-in to the offended team at mid-court.

Multiple Fouls

According to NFHS rules, fouls accumulate during the game. Technical fouls count toward foul totals, both for players and for the team as a whole. If any team member, including coaches, staff and players, commits two technical fouls in a game, he must leave the game. If a player accumulates any five fouls, he is ejected, also.