Coaches Association Newsletter September 2025

OHSBCA Coaches Clinic
The Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association (OHSBCA) is pleased to announce that the 2025 OHSBCA Clinic will be held at the Frank Murphy Convocation Center, located on the campus of St. Charles Preparatory School in Columbus, Ohio. St. Charles is a four-year all-male Catholic college preparatory school founded in 1923.

The Frank Murphy Convocation Center, which opened in 2023, is a state-of-the-art facility designed to enhance both athletic performance and fan experience. It features seating for 1,300, three video boards, and a dropdown scoreboard, making it an ideal venue for the clinic.

The 2025 Clinic will use the Sonesta Columbus Downtown Hotel as the Clinic Headquarters. It has over 400 rooms. In addition, the downtown Arena District is located within walking distance of the Sonesta Hotel, giving clinic attendees ample entertainment opportunities.

This clinic is a great way to get ready for the upcoming season and catch up with friends from around the state! So, make plans now to attend the 2025 OHSBCA Coaches Clinic!

Download PDF Version

Rule Changes for 2025-26
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (May 28, 2025) – A trio of changes to address when goaltending and basket interference are called are among the changes to high school basketball rules for the 2025-26 season.

These revisions to the NFHS Basketball Rules Book are among the six changes recommended by the Basketball Rules Committee during its April 28-30 meeting in Indianapolis – all of which were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.

Rule 4-22-1 & 2: 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. It also encourages more scoring opportunities and minimizes confusion for players and coaches.

Rationale: The change eliminates the possibility of an offensive goaltending violation, which simplifies the rule for officials and players. It removes the need to judge whether a ball in flight is a try or a pass, resulting in clearer enforcement, greater consistency, and more opportunities for scoring plays near the basket.

Rule 4-22-3 (NEW): This rule change establishes that once the ball contacts the backboard, it is automatically considered to be on its downward flight. Therefore, if a player touches the ball after it hits the backboard, and the ball has a possibility of entering the basket, it is ruled as goaltending.

This clarification helps protect legitimate shot attempts, reduces rough rebounding situations, and addresses a common rules misconception among coaches and players. It provides officials with a clearer standard for enforcing goaltending in backboard-related plays.

Rationale: This change enhances officiating clarity and protects legitimate shot attempts. It also addresses a common misconception among coaches and players by explicitly defining goaltending, leading to more consistent enforcement.

Rule 4-34-1: This rule change updates the definition of a player to clarify that a player is one of the five team members legally on the court at any given time, except during time-outs or intermissions. The change ensures consistency in rule enforcement by recognizing that it is difficult to distinguish between players, substitutes, and bench personnel during time-outs and intermissions. This clarification also supports the accountability of coaches for all team conduct during these periods and helps avoid misapplication of penalties such as technical fouls.

Rationale: This change ensures consistent enforcement of penalties for unsporting conduct by bench personnel. It allows officials to issue technical fouls to bench personnel during time-outs, aligning with the current rules for intermissions. It eliminates confusion and potential misapplication of rules and ensures fair and consistent enforcement of penalties for unsporting behavior, regardless of the individual’s role.

Rule 7-5-4: This rule change updates the procedure for determining the designated throw-in spot following a stoppage of play (not due to the ball going out of bounds) in the frontcourt and backcourt. Instead of relying on an imaginary line, officials now use existing court markings, specifically the three-point line, to determine the location. This change improves accuracy, consistency, and clarity for officials by using visible floor markings rather than imaginary lines, which were often misjudged.

Rationale: By using the visible three-point line as the line of demarcation, officials will have a clearer and more consistent method for determining throw-in locations. This improves accuracy and reduces confusion, resulting in more reliable throw-ins.

Rule 9-2-12 & 9-3-4 (NEW): This rule change addresses situations where a thrower purposely and/or deceitfully delays returning inbounds after legally stepping out of bounds and then becomes the first player to touch the ball upon re-entering the court. Previously penalized as a technical foul, this action is now treated as a violation, aligning it with similar out-of-bounds scenarios. The change reduces the severity of the penalty to encourage more consistent enforcement by officials and prevents players from gaining an unfair advantage through deceptive re-entry tactics.

Rationale: This change lessens the penalty for players who delay their return after being out of bounds, shifting the penalty from a technical foul to a less severe violation. This rule aligns with the penalty structure of similar violations, such as Rule 9-3-3 (where a player steps out of bounds on their own volition). The change is intended to make it easier for officials to recognize and penalize these actions consistently while reducing the severity of the penalty, encouraging more accurate enforcement.

Rule 10-4-4b: This rule prohibits players from illegally contacting the backboard or ring in ways that create an unfair advantage or interfere with a scoring attempt. This rule is designed to maintain fair play and protect the integrity of scoring opportunities by penalizing actions affecting the outcome of a shot, with a technical foul.

Rationale: The rule change aims to standardize and clarify the enforcement of basket interference, leading to fairer outcomes and more consistent officiating. The removal of subjective judgments around intent allows for clearer rulings and better alignment with current game dynamics.

Rule 4-6-1a & b (NEW): This rule change clarifies and expands the definition of basket interference to include additional actions that unfairly affect the ball while it is in a scoring position. Basket interference now occurs when a player slaps or strikes the backboard, causing the backboard or basket to vibrate, while the ball is on or within the basket, touching the backboard, or within the cylinder.

Rationale: This clarification helps officials consistently identify interference that affects scoring plays and ensures the integrity of the basket area during shot attempts.

Bob Arnzen Award
The Bob Arnzen Award is awarded to coaches who have devoted 20 consecutive years or more service to the same school at any level and must be an active member of the OHSBCA for the past five years. Recipients will receive a plaque at halftime of their respective state tournaments.

If you qualify for the 2025-26 school year, please submit a complete the online application at the OHSBCA website (oh.nhsbca.org) and click on forms. Select the Bob Arnzen Award form:

Joe Balogh
Awards Director
Phone: 419-512-0164
Email:  joe.balogh@ohiobkcoaches.com

DUE SEPTEMBER  10, 2025

Hooplines
This year, there will two editions of HOOPLINES as the OHSBCA starts to move to digital content. The Year in Review / January edition will be released around Mid-January. The Spring / May edition was be released in Mid-May. The OHSBCA has increased the number of Monthly newsletters, like this one, to provide more timely information. The newsletters will be sent to your email address provided on the membership form.

Nominations for OHSBCA Hall of Fame
Any coach can nominate a worthy candidate for the OHSBCA Hall of Fame. From time to time, questions are raised why coach so and so is not in the Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame. Sometimes it is just a simple fact that the coach has not been nominated for this honor.

Any coach can nominate a candidate for the Hall of Fame. Nomination Forms can be obtained by contacting chairperson Greg Nossaman of Olentangy Liberty or by downloading the form from our OHSBCA web site (oh.nhsbca.org). Complete the requested information and mail to:

Greg Nossaman
Olentangy Liberty High School
Phone:  740-657-4209
Email: greg_nossaman@olsd.us

Let’s Honor “ALL” our great coaches!

Golf Outing
The OHSBCA will be hosting a golf outing on Saturday. September 13, 2025 at the Delaware Golf Club. This golf outing is the day before our annual clinic and we will have a shotgun start at 1:30 PM. So plan on bringing your staff down a day early for a round of golf. After the round, a meal will be provided. We will only be accepting the first 32 teams so please make sure to register your team.

Gatorade
Dear Chief Fueling Officer,

With the Fall Season right around the corner,  Gatorade’s High School Performance Packages are just what your athletes need to stay fueled and hydrated!

Innovation highlights:
Gatorade Energy Chews are available for the Fueling on the Go and Sidelin Essentials packages. Gatorade Chews are designed to deliver energy to athletes without caffeine. Flavors: Cool Blue and Fruit Punch.

Strawberry Muscle Mile is available in the Fueling on the Go and Sideline Essentials packages.

Gatorlyte Powder Sticks are available for athletes needing rapid rehydration to replace fluid and electrolytes lost in sweat. Flavors: Watermelon and Cherry Lime.

Redesigned Gatorade Coolers are available in the Sideline Essentials package (max 2 coolers per package in any combination: 6 gallon, 9 gallon, or 60 qt ice chest on wheels).

Each school is limited to 15 high school packages per calendar year and based on first come, first served. These packages may only be purchased to be used for the ordering high school.

To place an order, please contact your Authorized Gatorade Athletic Team Dealer or email GatoradeGForcePartner@pepsico.com to find your Authorized Gatorade Athletic Team Dealer.

Century Award
OHSBCA members who achieve Century Award status (100-200-300-400-500-600-700 wins) during the season should complete the Century Award Form located on the OHSBCA website (oh.nhsbca.org, click on Forms, then click forms online, and click the Century Award).

*    Varsity coaches may count their varsity wins in Ohio only 
*    Boys and Girls wins may be combined for total wins.
*    Junior Varsity, Freshmen, and Junior High coaches may count their wins at any level towards their totals

Questions contact:
Joe Balogh
Awards Director
Phone: 419-512-0164
Email:  joe.balogh@ohiobkcoaches.com

DUE SEPTEMBER  10, 2025