(INDIANAPOLIS) — Some rule changes are on the horizon for high school basketball, including the possibility of a “shot clock.”
A proposal for a national rule mandating a shot clock as well as a proposal to allow a shot clock by state adoption were not approved.
“Information was given to the Basketball Rules Committee that shared the votes in individual states on how coaches and officials voted in support of or non-support of the shot clock rule,” said Theresia Wynns, NFHS director of sports and liaison to the Basketball Rules Committee. “The conversation among the committee members explored the pros and cons of enacting the proposal as a rule for all states and likewise for state adoption. The committee will continue to explore the shot clock issue.”
In a statement from the Ohio High School Athletic Association, their leadership stated- “The OHSAA is aware of the recent NFHS basketball national rule change that permits a shot clock by state association adoption and will continue discussions on this option with the Board of Directors and the leadership of the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association. Factors such as cost, game operations, and officiating all have to be considered, but we look forward to getting feedback from the Board and coaches.”
These were among the topics discussed by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Basketball Rules Committee at its annual meeting April 14-16. The rules meeting was held in an online format to comply with current health safety guidelines. All recommendations were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.
Rule 5-4-1 was one of three rules updated by the committee. It now states that a game is declared a forfeit if a coach is removed from the contest for unsporting conduct and no authorized school personnel are present to assume responsibility of the team.
“Most states have bylaws to cover the instance when no adult school staff is on the bench to attend to the team. Officials are not likely to read those bylaws and consequently not know that rule,” Wynns said. “Having the basketball rules cover such a situation helps the contest officials and coaches alike if such a situation were to arise.”
Rule 10-6-1 Penalty was also amended to clarify that an official is not required to provide a warning to a coach before a technical foul is given.
“This amends an existing rule that gave the impression that a warning was a prerequisite to ruling a technical foul,” Wynns. “Using the word ‘may’ helps one to understand that a warning is only an option.”
A timer’s responsibilities were addressed in Rule 2-12-5 when a player is disqualified or injured. A warning signal is sounded to begin a 15-second interval to replace a disqualified or injured player. A second warning signal was added when the 15 seconds expires to prepare teams for the resumption of play.
A complete listing of the basketball rules changes will be available on the NFHS website at www.nfhs.org. Click on “Activities & Sports” at the top of the home page and select “Basketball.”
According to the 2018-19 NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey, a total of 540,769 boys participated in basketball in 18,617 schools, and 399,067 girls participated in the sport in 18,210 schools across the country. It is the third-most popular sport for boys and girls.
(COLUMBUS) – The Ohio High School Athletic Association Board of Directors has approved a recommendation from OHSAA Executive Director Doug Ute that membership dues be collected beginning with the 2021-22 school year. The measure, approved by a 9-0 vote by the Board on Monday, means each high school will contribute $50 per OHSAA sanctioned sport in which the school participates.
“First, I want to thank our Board of Directors for unanimously approving my recommendation,” Ute said. “I also have received favorable feedback from the majority of the administrators with whom I have conversed at our member schools. Levying membership dues does not change our mission, which is to serve our member schools and enrich interscholastic opportunities for students.
“We traditionally have relied on tournament ticket sales for about 80 percent of our revenue,” Ute explained. “That financial model has not been sustainable, and the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly not helped. Levying membership dues will give us a steady line of income since many of our other lines are variable, and it will help us build a new, more sustainable revenue model. That model, which will help ensure our long-term sustainability, will be a combination of a wider variety of income streams – including these dues – and continued better management of our expenses.”
Total dues for the 2021-22 school year will range from $300 per school to $1,300, depending on the number of OHSAA-sanctioned sports in which a school is participating. The dues will be reviewed annually by an OHSAA Finance Committee and any modifications will be recommended to the Board by the executive director. In the future, dues will not exceed $100 per sport.
Levying dues means:
· Member schools will no longer pay any tournament entry fees, bowling lineage fees, golf green fees or wrestling weight management fees. The membership due is all-inclusive.
· Student scholarships will be reinstated during the 2021-22 school year.
· Student catastrophic insurance coverage for all student-athletes, cheerleaders, student managers and student athletic trainers during in-season and OHSAA tournament practices and contests will continue to be provided at no cost to member schools.
· OHSAA will continue to supply all team trophies and/or individual medals for champions, runners-up and other selected place-winners at the district, regional and state level.
· OHSAA will continue to supply rule books, sport manuals, online rules meeting presentations plus other publications and tournament administrator passes at no cost to member schools.
· OHSAA will continue to pay high school fees for ArbiterGame accounts.
· No membership dues will be levied against member 7th-8th grade schools.
“We will continue to be open and transparent with our member schools about our financial situation,” Ute said. “If we are able to adjust dues in the future, we will look to do so. I want to sincerely thank all of our school administrators for their work and efforts in helping to provide participation opportunities for our student-athletes during these uncertain times, and we appreciate the support they have given us in continuing to conduct our tournaments.”
The Board previously was presented information on membership dues during both the regularly scheduled February 18 and April 22 Board of Directors meetings. Ute also hosted in three virtual meetings April 5 and 13 with member school administrators to discuss dues and OHSAA finances in general. In addition, member school administrators recently received the following memo to further explain dues and OHSAA finances: https://ohsaaweb.blob.core.windows.net/files/SchoolResources/2021MembershipDues.pdf
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The University of Dayton and the Ohio High School Athletic Association announced Monday that the OHSAA girls and boys basketball state tournaments will be hosted at UD Arena for the next three years. Doug Ute, OHSAA Executive Director, and Scott DeBolt, Senior Associate Athletics Director at the University of Dayton, made the announcement Monday morning.
UD Arena had already been announced as the home of the OHSAA girls basketball state tournament for 2021, 2022 and 2023, but the new agreement for the girls and boys basketball state tournaments in 2022, 2023 and 2024 replaces that previous contract. UD Arena successfully hosted both the OHSAA girls and boys basketball state tournaments this past March.
“We are very excited that our student-athletes will get to play at UD Arena,” Ute said. “Even with the pandemic limiting what all could take place at the state tournaments last March, our schools still had a great experience at UD Arena, and UD made it very clear that they wanted to host both the girls and boys state tournaments moving forward. We know that the support for basketball in Southwest Ohio is very strong and UD wants to be the home of the state tournaments.”
Having hosted 125 NCAA basketball tournament games, UD Arena has been the home court for March Madness more than any other facility in the country.
“We are very excited to host the state tournaments at UD Arena,” DeBolt said. “In addition to our love of the Dayton Flyers, we are so proud to host many great events here, including the NCAA First Four, and we are pleased and grateful to welcome the OHSAA girls and boys basketball state tournaments to UD Arena. Our community will support the state tournaments just like our other events and this will be a special place for the teams, schools and communities that reach the state tournaments.”
Renovated in 2019, UD Arena has a seating capacity of 13,000 and has played host to many OHSAA basketball district and regional tournament games, along with Atlantic 10 Conference and NCAA tournament games. During the regular season, it is the home of the very successful University of Dayton Flyers women’s and men’s basketball teams.
UD Arena recently completed a transformation project that was the largest construction effort in the University’s history. It is regarded as one of the nation’s premier basketball facilities to go along with fan support that consistently ranks among the best in college basketball.
Prior to its move to UD Arena in March, the OHSAA girls basketball state tournament had been hosted by The Ohio State University every year since it inaugural state tournament in 1976, except in 1986 when it was hosted by the University of Akron. The OHSAA boys basketball state tournament had been hosted by OSU every year since 1957, except for 1986 and 1987 when it was hosted at UD Arena. The 2021 OHSAA boys basketball state tournament was scheduled to be hosted at OSU’s St. John Arena, but the facility was unavailable due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The OHSAA did not have a contract in place with OSU for the boys basketball state tournament beyond the 2021 agreement that was voided.
(COLUMBUS) – The Ohio High School Athletic Association Board of Directors approved the 2021 football tournament regulations Thursday during its April Board meeting that included proposals from the OHSAA staff to increase the number of playoff qualifiers and change the format of the regional playoffs.
The number of playoff qualifiers will expand to 16 schools per region. In addition, the higher seeded team will host first and second round playoff games, instead of only the first round, before neutral sites are used beginning with the regional semifinals. In the first round, the No. 16 seed will play at the No. 1 seed, the No. 15 seed will play at the No. 2 seed, etc.
“Last fall we received overwhelmingly positive feedback when we allowed every team to enter the football playoffs due to the shortened season because of COVID-19,” said Doug Ute, OHSAA Executive Director. “We know there are some who want to keep the football postseason to a smaller number of schools, but the postseason tournament gives such a positive experience for our student-athletes, the schools and their communities that we felt strongly about giving that opportunity to more schools to make the playoffs. And football remains the only OHSAA sport in which not every team automatically qualifies for the postseason.”
The OHSAA is also exploring adding a strength of schedule component to the Harbin computer ratings, which are used to determine the playoff qualifiers. A strength of schedule component could be added in 2022.
The site of the state championship games has not yet been determined, but the format will include one game Thursday, December 2, and two games each on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, December 3-5.
During the regional semifinals and regional finals at neutral sites, the higher seeded team will be the designated home team. The OHSAA then determines the sites and matchups for the state semifinals.
The expansion will increase the number of football playoff qualifiers from 224 to 448. Last year there were 709 schools in Ohio that played 11-man football. Since 1999, eight schools in each region have qualified for the playoffs. In May 2020, the OHSAA announced that the football playoffs would expand to 12 teams per region in 2021 and the top four seeds in each region would have a first-round bye. Expanding to 16 schools per region does not add a week to the postseason since it was already now six weeks, it simply eliminates the byes.
During the first five rounds of the playoffs, Division I, II, III and IV schools will play on Friday nights, while Division V, VI and VII schools will play on Saturday nights.
2021 OHSAA Football Playoff Schedule
October 29-30 – First Round at Higher Seeded Teams
November 5-6 – Regional Quarterfinals at Higher Seeded Teams
November 12-13 – Regional Semifinals at Neutral Sites
November 19-20 – Regional Finals at Neutral Sites
November 26-27 – State Semifinals at Neutral Sites
December 2-5 – State Championships, Site TBD, one game Thursday, two games each day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday
The OHSAA football playoffs began in 1972 when only 12 schools qualified for the playoffs (four schools in each of three classes). Expansion first came in 1980 when the OHSAA changed to five divisions with eight teams each (40 total qualifiers). A sixth division was added in 1994 (96 total qualifiers) and the number of qualifiers was increased to eight schools per region in 1999 (192 total qualifiers). A seventh division was added in 2013 to bring the number of qualifiers to 224.
As a reminder, in January the Board approved the general football regulations, which permit schools to fulfill two of the required five acclimatization days in July in advance of official practice beginning on Sunday, August 1. Two scrimmages are permitted between August 6-14, with either or both scrimmages permitted to be jamboree games.
The first Friday of the regular-season is August 20, and the regular-season will conclude on Saturday, October 23.
Only one team from the Southeast District has advanced to the OHSAA Boys State Basketball Final Four. New Boston Glenwood will represent the district in the Division 4 tournament as they make their first Final Four trip since 1960.
Two teams from the Central District that SVC teams are familiar with, advanced. DeSales made the cut in Division 2 after edging Unioto and Warren in the regional semis. Worthington Christian was 30 points better than Fairland in their Division 3 regional final. Two squads that got past Adena earlier. WC edged Adena by several points in the regular season and Fairland knocked Adena out in district final play.
2021 Boys Basketball State Tournament
TICKETING: In conjunction with policies set by the University of Dayton and Dayton-Montgomery County Public Health, the OHSAA will make at least 650 tickets available to the fans of each school for their team’s semifinal game in the state tournament. The Athletic Director of each school will distribute the purchase codes for the school’s ticket allotment. Purchase codes are only available through the Athletic Directors of the participating schools or the OHSAA. Ticket allotments for the championship games will also be 650 per school. Tickets for the Division IV and III state semifinals will go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday. Tickets for the Division II and I state semifinals will go on sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
LIVE COVERAGE: All 12 games of the state tournament will be covered by Spectrum. Every game will be streamed live at www.OHSAA.tv (free for Spectrum subscribers; $9.99 per game for non-Spectrum customers). In additional the final eight games of the state tournament (Division I and II semifinals and all four championship games) will be televised live on Spectrum News 1.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – One year ago this Friday (March 12), the COVID-19 pandemic forced the suspension – and eventual cancellation – of the Ohio High School Athletic Association girls basketball, ice hockey and wrestling state tournaments, along with the boys basketball regional and state tournaments. Those tournaments will not be denied this year, thanks to the dedication of schools to follow local and state health precautions.
State champions will be crowned this week in girls basketball at University of Dayton Arena, ice hockey at the OhioHealth Ice Haus, and wrestling at three sites, as Hilliard Darby will host Division I, Marengo Highland will host Division II and Marion Harding will host Division III. Boys basketball has reached the regional tournaments.
2021 Girls Basketball State Tournament
TICKETING: In conjunction with policies set by the University of Dayton and Dayton-Montgomery County Public Health, the OHSAA will make at least 650 tickets available to the fans of each school for their team’s semifinal game in the state tournament. The Athletic Director of each school will distribute the purchase codes for the school’s ticket allotment. Purchase codes are only available through the Athletic Directors of the participating schools or the OHSAA. Ticket allotments for the championship games will also be 650 per school. Tickets for the Division IV and III state semifinals will go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday. Tickets for the Division II and I state semifinals will go on sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
LIVE COVERAGE: All 12 games of the state tournament will be covered by Spectrum. The semifinals and finals will be live streamed (free for Spectrum subscribers; $9.99 per game for non-Spectrum customers, at www.ohsaa.tv) and the finals will also be televised live on Spectrum News 1.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio High School Athletic Association and the University of Dayton have announced that the upcoming OHSAA girls and boys basketball state tournaments will be held at UD Arena in March after the Ohio Department of Health and Public Health – Dayton and Montgomery County approved a variance to allow a greater number of fans at each game.
The girls state tournament will be held Thursday, March 11, through Saturday, March 13, while the boys state tournament will be held Friday, March 19, through Sunday, March 21. For both state tournaments, the semifinals will be at 11 a.m., 2 p.m., 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., and the championship games will tip off at 10:45 a.m., 2 p.m., 5:15 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. The divisional order of play this year is Division IV, III, II and I. Spectrum News 1 will televise the championship games, while the semifinals will be streamed live through OHSAA.tv.
“We are so excited that the University of Dayton has such a strong desire to host our basketball state tournaments and for all they did to receive a variance to allow more fans to attend,” said Doug Ute, OHSAA Executive Director. “We thank the health department officials for their cooperation as we worked through this request and we are committed to following the safety protocols they have in place. Our schools have gone through so much since last March and we are thrilled that the season will culminate with the state tournaments at such a great venue as UD Arena.”
The specific number of fans permitted per game will be announced at a later date.
“We thank the Ohio Department of Health and Public Health – Dayton and Montgomery County for working with us to provide high school students with the opportunity to play here at UD Arena,” said Scott DeBolt, University of Dayton Senior Associate Athletics Director and Executive Director of UD Arena. “The state tournament is an experience that the players, coaches and fans will remember for the rest of their lives and we are proud to be able to host these great events this year.”
Last May, the OHSAA announced the University of Dayton would host the OHSAA girls basketball state tournaments in 2021, 2022 and 2023, but the COVID-19 pandemic put the location of the 2021 state tournament in question due to spectator limitations and costs associated with the tournament.
“We especially thank Scott DeBolt and the staff at UD Arena for working with us on the financial side to allow the state tournaments to happen there this year,” Ute said. “We all can’t wait for the future when we can get back to normal attendance and pack the arena for the state tournaments.”
The 2021 OHSAA boys basketball state tournament was scheduled to be held at St. John Arena at The Ohio State University, but that facility is not available due to the pandemic.
Despite snow and ice being on the ground in most Ohio communities, Monday, February 22nd represents the start of the Spring Sports season for Ohio High School Athletic Association member schools.
This includes, baseball, softball, lacrosse and track and field. Boys tennis practice then begins March 8th. While regular season contests for lacrosse can begin on March 19th, the other spring sports can begin play on March 27th.
This is a welcome sign for thousands of Ohio high school athletes after their spring sports seasons were cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The OHSAA Board of Directors has approved the tournament regulations in softball, baseball, track & field and boys tennis, with those state tournament venues to be:
Boys Tennis: Lindner Family Tennis Center, Mason, May 28-29
Softball: Firestone Stadium, Akron, June 3-5
Baseball: Canal Park, Akron, June 10-12 Softball: Firestone Stadium, Akron, June 3-5
Track & Field: Division I at Hilliard Darby High School; Division II at Pickerington North High School; Division III at Westerville North High School
Four different OHSAA Regional Basketball Tournaments will be making their way to Ross County this spring, playing at Southeastern High School’s Larry Jordan Gymnasium.
The OHSAA has announced that Boys Divisions 2, 3 and 4 will be played at Southeastern High School, along with Girls Division 3.
The Boys Division 2 Sweet 16 will see champions from the Southeast, Central and East Districts.
Boys Division 3 will be from the Southeast, East and Central Districts.
Boys Division 4 will come from the Southeast, Central and East Districts.
In Girls tournaments, the Division 3 Regionals at Southeastern High School will come from the Southeast and East Districts.
For more details, go to our links to the Ohio High School Athletic Association website:
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio High School Athletic Association has announced the venues for two upcoming state tournaments. The ice hockey state tournament will be held March 13-14 at the OhioHealth Ice Haus in Columbus, which is attached to Nationwide Arena, while the wrestling state tournament will be split between three Central District high schools, Hilliard Darby (Division I), Marengo Highland (Division II) and Marion Harding (Division III), March 13-14.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Nationwide Arena is not able to host the ice hockey state tournament on the dates scheduled by the OHSAA, and the Schottenstein Center at The Ohio State University is not able to host the wrestling state tournament.
“We want to thank these three member schools for agreeing to host the wrestling state tournament along with everyone associated with the Ice Haus, Nationwide Arena and the Blue Jackets for their work to host the ice hockey state tournament,” said OHSAA Executive Director Doug Ute. “The most important thing we are doing is giving our student-athletes a chance to compete. Our member schools and other tournament sites are to be commended for doing everything they can to provide these opportunities during the pandemic.”
In the coming days, the OHSAA will announce sites for the regional and state basketball tournaments. As previously announced, the swimming and diving state tournament will remain at C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton February 24-27, the bowling state tournaments will remain at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl February 26-27 and March 5-6 and the gymnastics state tournament will remain at Hilliard Bradley High School March 5-6.
As in the past, the OHSAA will determine media access for all state tournaments. Each site determines media access for district and regional tournaments. See below for additional details. Credential applications for the state tournaments will be posted next week.
Ticketing information will be sent to member schools as the tournament move forward. The Ohio Department of Health and Governor Mike DeWine ask that only family members attend athletic events at this time, with indoor facility capacity limits set at 15 percent of the capacity or 300 people, whichever is smaller, unless the venue has received a variance to accommodate more spectators.
