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Basketball

Basketball Contact Info

Assistant Athletic Director:
Grace McDowell

Email:
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Assistant Athletic Director:
Joseph Garmon

Email:
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Department Phone:
512-471-5883

Department Fax:
512-471-6589

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Basketball Manual Regular Season

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Regular Season

Practice Regulations

Practice Regulations – During the school year

In-Season Practice Regulations - When School is in Session – Individual & Team Sports

  • Eight-hour practice rule:  School districts shall adopt policies limiting extracurricular activities from the beginning of the school week through the end of the school week (excluding holidays) by limiting practice outside the school day to a maximum of eight hours per school week per activity. 
  • The in-school athletic period does not count towards the allotted 8 hours.

Off-Season Practice Regulations - When School is in Session -Team Sports

  • Athletic Period – shall not exceed 60 minutes a day (300 minutes a week in a block schedule).
  • Sport specific skill instruction should happen during the athletic period as there is no time, outside the school day, allowed for skill specific instruction during the off-season.
  • Sessions for strength & conditioning instruction may be conducted by school coaches for students in grades 7-12 from that coaches attendance zone for sports in their off-season starting the first day of school. A strength and conditioning session shall be no more than one hour per day outside the school day, Monday through Friday, and a student shall attend no more than one session of supervised instruction per day.

Constitution and Contest Rules:  Section 5:  Definitions

  • Calendar week means 12:01 a.m. on Sunday through midnight on Saturday. 
  • School week means the week beginning at 12:01 a.m. on the first instructional day of a calendar week and ends at the close of instruction on the last instructional day of the calendar week, excluding holidays.

Practice Regulations - Outside the School Year

Preseason practice regulations for sports that begin practice prior to the school year are as follows.

  • The maximum length of any single practice session is three hours.
  • Student-athletes shall not engage in more than five hours of practice activities on those days during which more than one practice is conducted.
  • Schools shall not schedule more than one practice on consecutive days and student-athletes shall not participate in multiple practices on consecutive days. Exception: Volleyball.
  • On days when more than one practice is conducted, there shall be, at a minimum, two hours of rest/recovery time between the end of one practice and the beginning of the next practice.
  • What counts towards practice time? Actual on-court practice, sport specific skill instruction, mandatory conditioning, water breaks and rest breaks.
  • What doesn’t count? Meetings, weight training*, film study, injury treatment and voluntary conditioning. *Cannot be done during the two-hour rest between the two practices.

Sundays. A League participant school shall not participate in any athletic contest or conduct any practice, or teach any plays, formations, or skills on Sunday.

  • Violation.  Any showing of films to, or meetings of athletes for the purpose of instructions or reviewing of plays, formations, or skills in any sport will be construed as a violation.
  • Coaches Sunday Meetings.  This does not prevent coaches from meeting on Sunday or from viewing films or planning an instructional program, provided that no athletes are involved in this meeting.
Contest Scheduling & Allowable Contests

Contest Scheduling Rules

The following section combines State Law, State Board of Education regulations, and UIL rules regarding scheduling and participation in a contest.   

  • One contest per school week:  According to State Board of Education mandates, students may only participate on one day per activity during the school week. School districts shall ensure no more than one contest or performance per activity is scheduled per student.  *Exception:  Tournaments and post-season competition may be scheduled as an exception to the school week limit. As well, district varsity contests postponed by weather or public disaster, provided that they are rescheduled and played on the next available date, other than Sunday, on which another district match is not scheduled.  Junior varsity, freshman and junior high teams may not play postponed matches as an exception.
  • TEA and Participation:  The Texas Education Agency defines participation as being involved with the activity, traveling with the team, or sitting on the bench. Example:  On a Tuesday night, the student’s name is on the scorebook but she remains on the bench and does not actually enter the game.  This counts as participation for TEA but not UIL, this student would not be able to participate again until after school on Friday, per TEA regulations.
  • UIL and Participation: UIL defines participation if a student athlete actually entered the contest as a player. In the example above, the contest does not count as one of the allowable games as determined by UIL policy.

    Definitions:

  • Calendar week means 12:01 a.m. on Sunday through midnight on Saturday. 
  • School week means the week beginning at 12:01 a.m. on the first instructional day of a calendar week and ends at the close of instruction on the last instructional day of the calendar week, excluding holidays. 
  • Post-district play means competition in UIL playoff series or contests such as bi-district, area, regional, etc.

Holiday Restriction (Section 1206 of C&CR)

(l) HOLIDAY RESTRICTION. A school shall not conduct contests or practices, use school facilities, personnel or equipment during five consecutive days of December. Any organized or required practice will be a violation of this regulation. Schools may choose any five consecutive days which include December 24, 25 and 26, with the following exceptions.

(1) When December 26 falls on a Thursday, schools may participate in a tournament game on December 26.
(2) When December 26 falls on a Thursday, schools shall still follow a five-consecutive day restriction, including December 24 and 25.
(3) No practice shall be permitted on any of the five consecutive days.
(4) Travel is not permitted on December 25.
(5) Travel is permitted on the 26th if a tournament game is scheduled on December 27; however, no practice shall be permitted on the 26th.
(6) A team that has a game on December 23 could travel home on December 24 and still be in compliance with this section.
(7) A school may request an exception to these travel restrictions when safety concerns exist relative to travel. The UIL Executive Director, or his or her designee, may grant the exception only when the school has clearly provided evidence of the travel safety concerns and determines the school cannot reasonably be expected to comply with these restrictions.

Basketball Allowable Contests

     Number of Contests allowed (2022-23)

  • 0 Tournaments and 27 Games or
  • 1 Tournament and 25 Games or
  • 2 Tournaments and 23 Games or
  • 3 Tournaments and 21Games

     Games:

  • A team or individual may only play one game during the school week Monday (12:01 am) through Friday (after school).  This means that if a team competes once Monday through Thursday, the second competition must be after the end of the school day Friday or on Saturday. EXCEPTION:  See exception under Contest Scheduling Rules.  
  • Basketball teams or individual(s) are limited to two matched games per calendar week (Monday through Saturday) or one matched game and a tournament the week of an invitational tournament. 
  • A team or individual may play no more than two matched games per day, including tournaments. EXCEPTION:  1-day tournaments – teams may play three tournament games in a 1-day tournament.
  • Two games may be substituted in place of a tournament.  Pre-scheduled district tournaments must count as one of the invitational tournaments unless all matches played in the district tournament are counted in the season match limitation for all schools in the district. 
Scrimmage & Game Regulations

Playing Rules. The current National Federation Basketball Rules shall govern League basketball. Rulebooks may be ordered from the National Federation customer service office (800-776-3462) or www.nfhs.org.

Scrimmages: A scrimmage is a meeting of not more than four teams for practice purposes, which does not count as a game for any of the teams. Admission may be charged. Officials may be paid in accordance with the schedule in Section 1204 (m) and may, by prior agreement with the school, be reimbursed for mileage and meals.

  • Basketball teams are limited to two scrimmages, with not more than four teams participating,
  • Teams are limited to one scrimmage during the school week. The second scrimmage may be played at the end of the school week (Friday after school or Saturday).
  • No scrimmages may be played after a team’s first interschool game.
  • If more than four teams are invited to a scrimmage, each team may only scrimmage three different teams.   

Games:

  • Season Total.  No team or student shall compete in more than three invitational tournaments plus 21 basketball games in a season, including all games prior to the first playoff game. This shall include non-district and district games and games played in pre-scheduled district tournaments.
  • Exception: The district executive committee may authorize a single elimination game or tournament to resolve district ties.  This game cannot be pre-scheduled and it must count on the game per week limitation.
  • Games Per Day.  No high school team or contestant shall participate in more than two interschool basketball games per day, including tournaments. Exception: Three games may be played in a one-day tournament on Saturday.
  • Games Per Week.  No high school team or contestant shall participate in more than two matched games per calendar week. The week of an invitational tournament only one matched game may be played. The state law limiting school week participation must be followed, (i.e., one contest Monday through Thursday night with the second contest after school Friday or Saturday).

Double Header

  • A double header could be a team playing two different teams (2-varsity teams) or the same team, twice. Playing a subvarsity and a varsity at the same site, the same night would also constitute a double header.
  • A double header counts as the two allowable games UIL permits the student for the calendar week and counts as two of the total matches for the season.
  • Students could also play in a tournament the same week they participate in a single matched game.
  • Example: If a student plays a double header on Tuesday, they would be finished with their matched games for the calendar week and would not be able to participate in an invitational tournament or another matched game that weekend.

Warm-up Games

  • Teams that have advanced to the playoffs may schedule a warm-up game after the District Certification Date that is set by the UIL calendar and before their first playoff game if a team has not reached their allowable season limit.
  • School week limitations still apply.
  • Prior to district certification, games left in your allowable season limit may be scheduled like any other regular season game.

One-Game Exception for Warm-Up Games (when no games are left in season limit)

  • Teams that are district champions and have a first-round bye.
  • The one game exception can be played only at the end of your school day on Friday, last day of instruction (with no loss of school time) or anytime on Saturday.
Basketball Tournament Regulations

Tournaments. A tournament consists of at least three teams assembled at one site for competition.

  • Schools shall not schedule tournaments on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, unless school is not in session. Schools may schedule tournaments on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
  • Tournaments may be scheduled on non-consecutive days. A two-day tournament can only be scheduled on Thursday/Saturday or Friday/Saturday (it cannot be scheduled on Thursday/Friday). A one-day tournament must be held on a Saturday.
  • Two games per day are allowed in a two or three-day tournament.
  • Three games are allowed in a 1-day tournament on Saturday
  • A tournament may only be played during a week in which only one matched game is played.
  • A double round robin elimination tournament shall not be used in any League contest except by unanimous consent of participating schools.
  • A tournament must be held at the ISD of the host school, or at an adjoining ISD. Host schools may authorize additional sites other than same or adjoining ISD for preliminary round games.

Pool Play. A team may play in pool play during the first rounds of a tournament provided the pool games consist of ‘mini games’ using 4-minute quarters or regulation games.

  • Pool play utilizing 4-minute quarters and a 2-minute overtime can be used. All 4-minnute pool play games played for the day will count as one of the allowable (2) games allowed for the day. These 40-minute quarter pool play games should not count on the overall win/loss record for the season.
  • Pool play utilizing regulation quarter-length format, each game will count as one of allowed games per day (2 games in a 2 or 3-day tournament) and (3 games in a 1-day tournament).
  • Participation in pool play is counted as a tournament.  The win/loss record from pool play may be used to create a single elimination bracket.
  • When two or more teams are tied in win/loss percentage, the team that defeated the other in head-to-head competition will be the winner. . 
District Certification
  • The DEC shall determine the place and/or time games in case of disagreement between two schools. 
  • If not previously scheduled, a district executive committee may authorize a single game     or tiebreaker tournament to resolve district ties. A one-game play-off could break a two-way tie. A tiebreaker tournament could resolve a tie between three or more schools. 
  • Tie-breaker games (two teams tied) must be held in compliance with calendar week and school week restrictions.
  • Tie-breaker tournaments (three or more schools tied), if held on more than one day, must be held on consecutive days. Can be played on Thursday.

    NOTE: These games must be completed by the district certification deadline and will not count against the allowable games if not previously scheduled.

  • If the district executive committee schedules any other games or tournaments as part of their method for determining play-off representatives, the games played must count in the game or tournament limitation.
  • The State Executive Committee shall have jurisdiction in all disputes arising between districts. 
  • Districts must be certified by 11:59 p.m. on the certification deadline date.
Miscellaneous Basketball Regulations

Guarentees for Contests

  • In district and non-district games/matches, unless there is mutual agreement or a district executive committee ruling, the home team is entitled to 100% of the gate receipts.
  • In play-off games, the visiting team shall have a sufficient guarantee to cover expenses and also 50% of the net gate receipts unless mutually agreed upon by both schools.

Videotaping/Filming

Non-Conference and District Contests.

Videotaping/Filming by Schools.

  • It is a violation to film or videotape a non-conference or district athletic contest in which your school or team is not competing unless prior consent of the two schools involved has been obtained.
  • A school does not have to obtain permission to film or tape a NON-CONFERENCE OR DISTRICT contest in which it is competing. However, the film or videotape shall not be utilized until after the contest has been completed.
  • Films and videotapes become the property of the school doing the filming unless by district rule or by consent of the schools involved in the contest.
  • Videotaping/Filming by Individuals. Any individual (other than the officially designated school camera) taping or filming must have prior written permission from the schools involved in the contest and may not obstruct the view of other spectators of the contest.
  • Commercial Uses.  The use of the films or tapes for commercial purposes must be approved by all schools involved in the contest.

Pep Bands

  • The UIL does allow “pep” bands (up to 30 members) to play at basketball games at prescribed times listed below.  
  • Musical instruments may not be used as noisemakers during the contest.
  • The “pep” band shall not be located behind or near the opposition’s bench.
  • If a “pep” band does perform the following guidelines should be followed to ensure a full appreciation of the group’s performance. Performances by the pep band should be limited to appropriate times listed below:
    • The band may play before the game begins. The director should coordinate the schedule so that the host school may introduce team members.
    • The band may play during time outs and in between sets of the contest.
    • The band may play at the end of the contest if desired. 

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