High school basketball is undergoing a major change for the 2023-24 season.
The National Federation of State High School Associations, or NFHS, on Monday announced a rule that will mirror what already exists in women’s college basketball.
There will be no more one-and-one free throw situations going forward. Teams will shoot two free throws on common fouls when reaching the bonus.
The definition of the bonus is changing. Fouls will be reset after each quarter, rather than accumulate throughout a half.
Teams will shoot two free throws once their opponent has committed a fifth common foul in any quarter. The foul count will reset after the first quarter and after the third quarter.
The previous rule had teams shooting one-and-ones after the seventh foul in a half, and two shots following the 10th foul.
“It’ll be a big change, but let’s try it. Why not?” longtime Eldorado boys coach Roy Sanchez said.
But he did add that removing the pressure of the one-and-ones down the stretch of games was disappointing.
“It’s too bad,” he said. “But the game is evolving.”
Rio Rancho High girls coach Lori Mabrey felt similarly.
“I guess we’ll see how it plays out,” she said, “but initially, I don’t like (getting rid of one-and-ones).”
Mabrey described the rule change as “one of the bigger ones I can remember in my lifetime.”
Sanchez said he couldn’t predict for sure how games will shake out under the new rule.
“I’m all for moving the game forward, progressing the game,” he said. “If it doesn’t work, they’ll move it back.”
The changes were designed by the NFHS rules committee at its annual meeting last month in Indianapolis, and approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.
ABC PREP COMMITS: Two players inside Albuquerque’s ABC Prep have made college commitments in recent days.
Cibola’s Marcus Wilson (Class of 2024), a 6-foot-4 point guard, on Tuesday announced he would be playing for Washington State.
Last week, Del Norte High senior Judah Casaus signed to play for NCAA Division II Western New Mexico.
A SECOND ‘BEAV’: Sandia High junior right-handed pitcher Zach Kmatz has verbally committed to play for Oregon State. His older brother, Jacob, is a pitcher for the Beavers.
“I went to watch my brother pitch in Arizona, and the pitching coach called me over and was talking to me, asking me how things were going,” Kmatz said. “He said, ‘Do you want to be a Beav?’ I said yes! He said (they) could make that happen.”
The 6-3, 210-pound Kmatz was offered in late April and announced his decision last Thursday, minutes after pitching a shutout in the state quarterfinals against La Cueva.
Jacob Kmatz is a sophomore at Oregon State.
“Hopefully he gets drafted (after his junior year); if not I’ll be able to pitch with him,” Zach, 16, said.
BOUND FOR ALASKA: The Albuquerque High boys and girls basketball teams will play in a tournament in Juneau, Alaska, this season.
The Bulldogs will compete at the Capital City Classic at Juneau-Douglas High from Dec. 27-30. The cost per traveler for the trip is roughly $1,500, athletic director Chad Jones estimated.
Albuquerque Public Schools is allowing any fall, winter or spring sports team to take a single out-of-state trip for a game or tournament — the caveat being that the team must pay its own way.
DOINGS AT ELDORADO: Longtime boys tennis coach Mike Pick and baseball coach Mike Robertson both have resigned. Pick is retiring after 22 seasons and won a state title in 2018. Robertson, an Eldorado alum, coached the Eagles the last two seasons.
Also, Pick confirmed that his two-time state champion, senior Philip Bosin, has committed to play for the hometown University of New Mexico Lobos.
UNM already has one Eldorado product, three-time prep state champ Georgio Samaha, on its roster.
THIS AND THAT: Sandia’s Gabriella Domenici (track and field) is signing with Carroll College in Montana. … Albuquerque High’s Ula Parrill has signed to swim for the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
