When basketball season commences next winter, high school players, coaches and referees will have to adjust to a rule change approved by the rules committee of the National Federation of State High School Associations that presumes to clean up rough play during free throw attempts.

The new rule will leave the two marked spaces on the foul lane open during free throw attempts, which brings high school play into line with the colleges. A new mark will be applied to the foul lane to mark where the last lane spot is. The change comes from an experiment conducted this past season during Georgia high school games. There's no word on whether the rule change will affect girls basketball, though the women's college game has had the empty spaces under the rim for years.

In addition, the committee changed the rule about technical fouls assessed for the wearing of illegal uniforms. Beginning next season, a technical will be charged to the head coach, rather than to the players, as the committee moved to place blame on the coaches for allowing the players to wear the uniforms in the first place.

Finally, the rules committee wisely decided not to authorize the use of video replay in state championships, on the theory that reviews run counter to what high school sports are all about. Plus, the committee said the decision was influenced by the unavailability of video equipment in some places as well as the notion that it would be unfair for officials to be required to use replay at the end of a season, after not using it the rest of the year. There were calls for video replay after a controversial ending in a South Carolina boys state final, with two state legislators attempting to inject themselves into the matter.