INDIANAPOLIS — Five of the seven rules changes in high school basketball concern player equipment, including new uniform provisions that will be required in the 2024-25 season.
All seven rules revisions recommended by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Basketball Rules Committee at its April 23-25 meeting in Indianapolis were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.
Effective with the 2024-25 season, the number on the jersey can no longer be the same color as the jersey itself. Currently, the number can be the same color as the jersey if it is bordered by a contrasting color. Despite the contrasting-color border, the committee said the number is still difficult to see in many cases. The other two options in Rule 3-4-3e regarding the color of the number remain in effect.
A five-year implementation date was approved to allow schools time to budget for purchasing new uniforms.
Four other changes were approved in Rule 3 – Players, Substitutes and Equipment. A new rule, 3-5-8, provides recommendations for use of a mouthguard. Though not required, the committee noted that state associations may deem a tooth and mouth protector required equipment.
A note was added to Rule 3-5-5 to permit folding or rolling the shorts at the natural waistband seam. The new language does state that the shorts have to be in compliance with Rule 3-4-5, which restricts uniform pants/skirts to one visible manufacturer’s logo/trademark/reference.
Theresia Wynns, NFHS director of sports and officials and liaison to the Basketball Rules Committee, said this addition to Rule 3-5-5 modernizes the rule and allows players to adjust the shorts in a manner that serves no harm to the game or its integrity.
The other equipment changes deal with headbands and hair-control devices in Rule 3-5-4. The maximum width of the headband was expanded from 2 inches to 3 inches to be consistent with the rules for volleyball and accommodate athletes who play both sports. In addition, in 3-5-4d, hair-control devices are not required to meet color restrictions. Wynns noted that a hair-control device goes around the hair only, while a headband goes around the entire head.
In another change, assistant coaches now will be able to go onto the court with the head coach in an effort to restore order when a fight breaks out among players.
“It can be difficult for officials to separate players involved in a fight on the court,” Wynns said. “This change will allow assistant coaches to enter the court with the head coach to assist officials in regaining control of the situation and restoring player safety.”
The final change approved by the Basketball Rules Committee is a change in the signal when a held ball occurs. Now, when a held ball occurs, the covering official(s) shall stop the clock using Signal #2 (straight arm, open palm extended) while simultaneously sounding the whistle.
“This change should help to alleviate conflicting calls by officials when a held ball occurs,” Wynns said. “We currently raise one arm to stop the clock for everything except the jump/held ball.”
According to the 2018-19 NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey, basketball is the third-most popular sport for boys with 551,373 participants in 18,510 schools and the third-most popular sport for girls with 412,407 participants in 18,171 schools.
For most high school seniors, the workload tends to decrease in the final year of grade school. For Jillian Kelly, though, her schedule is longer than a CVS receipt.
AURORA — The 32-team regional baseball brackets for classes 3A, 4A and 5A were released on Wednesday, launching each of those classes into their postseasons.
Regionals in each classification can be played either on Friday or Saturday, but all games must be played on one day. The winner of each regional will advance to the eight-team state tournaments, which begin on May 24.
Marc Johnson, the legendary head of the Cherry Creek baseball program, has won the 800th game of his career.
Johnson, who has coached the Bruins since 1972, secured the milestone with a win over Arapahoe on Monday. He is now 800-200 in his career.
He is one of three high school coaches in any sport in Colorado to win 800 games with one school, following only Dick Katte, the all-time wins leader in boys basketball who led Denver Christian for nearly five decades, and Jim Danley, who led Eaton baseball to 807 wins over four decades.
Johnson’s program has won eight state championships. It has produced more than 400 collegiate players, and 51 MLB Draft picks — including six first-round draft picks.
Johnson is a member of both the CHSAA and Colorado Sports halls of fame, as well as the American Baseball Coaches National Hall of Fame, and the Colorado Dugout Hall of Fame.
Johnson also served as Cherry Creek’s soccer coach for 25 years, and led the team to five state championships, until he stepped aside in 1999.
Delta baseball got a walk-off win over Montrose in eight innings on Monday to end its regular season 19-4.
The Panthers led 5-1 after five innings, but Montrose scored a run in the sixth and three more in the seventh to tie the game at 5-5. Delta then plated one in the eighth for the win.
“We knew it was going to be a dog fight,” Delta coach Steve Reiher said. “Landon is a great coach and we knew they would come at us. We came out with a lot of energy. Ryan Cooper did a great job of keeping them off balance today. What we need to improve on is just a some little things that we haven’t been able to, like fly all communications.”
The Panthers broke out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, including a two-run single from Nolan Bynum. They would go ahead 4-0 after three innings.
Montrose trailed 5-2 going to the seventh. A two-run single by Dustin Boone in that inning tied the game at five.
Bynum finished 2-for-2 with three RBIS. Gauge Lockhart and Trevor Myers each went 2-for-3, with Myers scoring three runs. Nathan Workman and Kolby Keller each had an RBI for Delta.
Lockhart also picked up the win in the mound, pitching 1 1/3 perfect innings. Ryan Cooper, a senior, threw 6 2/3 innings for Delta.
Montrose senior Dustin Boone was 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Trey Schwardtfeger struck out 12 batters on the mound for Montrose in seven innings of work.
