MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved several rule additions to men’s and women’s basketball for the 2023-2024 season on Thursday.

Women’s basketball will join its men’s counterpart in the fight against flopping. Players will receive a warning on their first flopping violation, and all subsequent flopping infractions for that player will result in a technical foul. All flopping violations will count toward the team’s foul total for the half, but not the player’s individual foul count.

The Women’s Basketball Rules Committee also expressed enough concern about “significant increases” in violations surrounding bench misconduct and decorum to name it as a point of emphasis this upcoming season.

In the men’s game, the biggest rule change was centered around block/charge calls. According to the panel, a defensive player will have to be in the legal guarding position “at the time an offensive player plants a foot to go airborne to attempt a field goal.”

“If the defender arrives after the offensive player plants a foot to launch toward the basket, officials will be instructed to call a block when contact occurs between the two players.”

Previously, a defender simply had to be in the legal guarding position before the offensive player was in the air. Now, they will have to be in position as the ball handler starts his shooting/passing motion.

Other rules for men’s hoops include: timeouts being granted when players are airborne, a shortened shot clock (20 seconds) after an offensive rebound, free out-of-bounds replay requests with under two minutes left in a half, and more.

For both men’s and women’s hoops, players will be able to wear jersey numbers 0-99. Previously, players could only wear numbers with digits 1-5. Schools will also not have to submit a waiver for players to wear religious headwear if it is safe for competition.

The NCAA is letting schools decide if they would like recorded or live video to be transmitted to the bench area for men’s and women’s basketball after two years as an experimental rule.

A full list of rule additions can be found on the NCAA website.