Coaches will not have to be warned before they get a technical foul under new rule changes for basketball announced earlier this week by the WIAA.

The WIAA will fall in line with what was decided by the National Federation of State High School Associations Basketball Rules Committee at its annual meeting April 14-16. In its release, the WIAA announced the following rule changes:

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

There was chatter about instituting a shot clock, but those attempts were denied.