NCAA Women’s Basketball Takes Aim at Flopping With New Rule

Players now will be penalized if referees believe they’ve flopped.

The NCAA announced Thursday that flopping will now be a penalized foul in women’s college basketball. If a player has been judged to have flopped by a referee, the player will be assessed a warning. Anytime a player is deemed to have flopped after the first warning, that person will be assessed a technical foul. 

The second flopping call or any thereafter will add to the team’s foul count, but will not be counted as the individual’s five fouls that would lead to an ejection. All three divisions in the NCAA will adopt the rule change, while the NBA reportedly weighs a similar revision.

In May, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported the NBA is discussing potential in-game penalties for flopping that would also result in technical fouls and free throws. The new rule could be implemented on a trial basis during the NBA Summer League, per the report, but no such change has been made official yet. 

In addition to the flopping changes, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel reduced the restricted-area arc from four feet in the lane to the area directly underneath the basket.