Rules: NFHS (US high school)

Edition on file: 2025-26 rules changes and 2026-27 comments on the rules, the public pages; the rules book itself is sold, not published.
Text status: changes-only.
Document: Basketball Rules Changes - 2025-26, retrieved 2026-09-21.

The NFHS rules book is sold and its text is not public. What is on file is the league’s own summary of the rules that changed for 2025-26, with rule numbers, and its comments on the 2026-27 changes. A cell here is a value only where one of those pages states the rule with its number; everywhere else it is a stated gap that names the page searched. This is the wall, stated rather than papered over.

All five compared · NBA · NCAA men · NCAA women · FIBA.

The floor and spacing

Restricted area

The half-circle in front of the rim inside which a secondary defender cannot draw a charge. Entry.

Gap: not in the public text of NFHS (US high school); searched Basketball Rules Changes - 2025-26.

Neither public page mentions a restricted area or arc; the rules book is sold.

Transition defense

Transition take foul

A deliberate foul on the ball early in a break to stop the play before the numbers advantage can be used. Entry.

Gap: not in the public text of NFHS (US high school); searched Basketball Rules Changes - 2025-26.

Neither public page mentions a transition or take foul; the rules book is sold.

Rules and regulations

Backcourt count

The time a team has to bring the ball across the midcourt line; the count a press is built to run out. Entry.

Gap: not in the public text of NFHS (US high school); searched Basketball Rules Changes - 2025-26.

Neither public page states the backcourt count; the rules book is sold.

Court dimensions

The length and width of the playing court. Entry.

Gap: not in the public text of NFHS (US high school); searched Basketball Rules Changes - 2025-26.

Neither public page states the court dimensions; the rules book is sold.

Defensive three seconds

The NBA rule that a defender in the lane must be guarding someone within three seconds; the reason a rim protector cannot simply stand under the basket. Entry.

Gap: not in the public text of NFHS (US high school); searched Basketball Rules Changes - 2025-26.

Neither public page mentions a defensive count; the rules book is sold.

Free-throw lane

How wide the painted lane is; the number behind the paint, the blocks and the elbows. Entry.

Gap: not in the public text of NFHS (US high school); searched Basketball Rules Changes - 2025-26.

Neither public page states the lane width; the rules book is sold.

Free-throw line

How far the free-throw line is from the backboard; it fixes the nail and the elbows. Entry.

Gap: not in the public text of NFHS (US high school); searched Basketball Rules Changes - 2025-26.

Neither public page states the free-throw line distance; the rules book is sold.

Goaltending

Touching a shot on its way down, or off the backboard, while it can still score; the rule that limits what a rim protector may do. Entry.

From 2025-26 only the defense can goaltend; a ball that has touched the backboard is treated as on its downward flight. 4-22-1 & 2; 4-22-3

Verbatim: “This change removes the offensive team from goaltending violations, simplifying enforcement for officials and reducing ambiguity over whether a ball was a shot or a pass.” and “This rule change establishes that once the ball contacts the backboard, it is automatically considered to be on its downward flight.”

Length of the game

How long a game is and how it is divided; the one rule every other clock hangs on. Entry.

Gap: not in the public text of NFHS (US high school); searched Basketball Rules Changes - 2025-26.

The public changes and comments pages do not state the length of periods; the rules book is sold.

Shot clock

The time a team has to attempt a shot that reaches the ring; the number that sets the pace of every possession. Entry.

Gap: not in the public text of NFHS (US high school); searched Basketball Rules Changes - 2025-26.

Neither public page mentions a shot clock; the rules book is sold. No claim is made here about state adoption.

Three-point line

How far the arc is from the basket, and how far the corner line is from the sideline; the geometry every spacing decision in Chapter 3 rests on. Entry.

Gap: not in the public text of NFHS (US high school); searched Basketball Rules Changes - 2025-26.

The 2025-26 changes page uses the three-point line as a throw-in landmark (7-5-4) but does not state its distance; the rules book is sold.