Basketball Foul Counter

Tap a player and the personal and team fouls go up together, with a light that tells you when the free throws start

The Basketball Foul Counter keeps track of fouls by player and by period during a game. One tap on a player's row adds a personal foul for him and a team foul for the current period. When the team count reaches the limit, the light on the scoreboard strip switches to next foul, free throws for the opponent. A player one foul from fouling out and a player who is already out each get their own row color.

Limits differ between competitions, so you pick the rule set first. The tool covers US high school (NFHS, the default here), NCAA men and women, the NBA, and FIBA's 2026 rules along with the 2024 edition they replace. Switching rules recounts the fouls you have already logged under the new limits. Fouls that count differently, such as technical, unsportsmanlike or flagrant fouls, are logged by type, and the tool checks the disqualification combinations for you.

Why count fouls separately

In an organized game, the scorer logs every foul in the book and tells the referee when a player reaches the limit. Plenty of games have no dedicated scorer, or one person trying to run the book and the clock at once. These are the situations this counter is built for.

• Rec leagues and youth games: with a volunteer at the table and a parent running the clock, a team's foul count slips easily. Then a team shoots free throws it should not get, or loses the ones it has earned.
• High school scorer's table: with a book and a scoreboard to keep in sync, a quick second record of fouls by player and quarter makes it easy to check the two against each other at the break.
• Coaches and team managers: knowing which player is on four fouls, and how many team fouls the other side can still give before the opponent shoots, shapes substitutions late in a quarter. The 'out in 1' and 'until free throws' readouts answer exactly that.
• Parents and fans who want to understand the game: you can try the college men's 1-and-1, the NBA's last-two-minutes rule or FIBA's new foul types by tapping through them.

How to use it

1. Pick the Rules that match your game at the top. The sentence right below summarizes that rule set's fouling-out and team-foul limits.
2. Press Roster in each team column, type one 'number name' per line, and apply. A number alone is enough, and you can skip the roster and use Team foul only to count team fouls without players. Type the team names in the name boxes.
3. In the middle of the scoreboard strip, choose the current period (quarter, half or overtime). Pressing 'Next' starts the new period's team fouls at 0, and overtime carries on from the earlier period where the rules say so.
4. When a foul is called, tap that player's row. For a different kind of foul, such as a technical, choose it under Next foul first and then tap. The type resets to 'Personal' after each entry.
5. If you tapped the wrong row, press Undo (Ctrl or ⌘ + Z) or press the × on that line in the log below. The log saves in this browser by itself, so a refresh does not lose it, and Copy log sends the summary to a team chat after the game. On a tablet at courtside, Full screen fills the screen with the board.

Fouling out and team fouls by rule set

The number of fouls that puts a player out, and the point where the team-foul penalty begins, change from one rule set to the next. 'Penalty' here means that once that count is reached, the opponent shoots free throws starting with the next foul. A foul on a shooter already earns free throws under the normal rules, so the team-foul penalty is about free throws on fouls that are not shooting fouls.

The NCAA men's 1-and-1 gives the second free throw only if the first one goes in. US high school basketball dropped the 1-and-1 beginning in 2023-24: from the 5th team foul in each quarter the opponent shoots two, and the team count goes back to zero after the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarters.

FIBA counts 'after 4, starting with the next foul'

FIBA Article 42.1.1 defines a team foul as a personal, technical, disruptive, flagrant or disqualifying foul committed by a player, and says a team that has committed 4 team fouls in a quarter is in the team-foul penalty situation. So from the 5th team foul on, a personal foul on a player who is not shooting brings 2 free throws instead of a throw-in (42.2.1). In practice that is the same moment as 'the 5th team foul' in the American rule sets.

The counting has its own rules as well. A team foul called during an interval between quarters goes into the next quarter (42.1.2), and every team foul in overtime is treated as a 4th-quarter foul (42.1.3). A personal foul by the team in control of the ball, the familiar offensive foul, counts as a team foul but earns no free throws and gives the opponent a throw-in (42.2.2). A technical foul on the bench or the coach is not a team foul (36.3.1).

Each type of foul is counted its own way

The FIBA 2026 rules, in force from October 1, 2026, drop the unsportsmanlike foul and split it into the disruptive foul (illegal contact that breaks the normal flow of play) and the flagrant foul (excessive, dangerous contact). Technical fouls are now split into category 1, which counts toward disqualification, and category 2, which does not. A technical foul on a player counts as a player foul and a team foul whatever its category, so it also counts toward the 5-foul limit (36.3.1). A player is disqualified for two category-1 technicals, two flagrant fouls, or one of each (41.4).

The 2024 edition (technical T and unsportsmanlike U; disqualified for 2 T, 2 U or T plus U) is still used by some leagues this season. The KBL in Korea, for one, has said it plans to move to the new rules from 2027-28, so for those games you choose 'FIBA 2024'.

How the NBA, NCAA and US high school rules differ

• US high school (NFHS): personal fouls and technicals together reach 5 and the player is out. A single flagrant foul or a second technical is an immediate ejection. Overtime is an extension of the 4th quarter, so team fouls do not reset. Since 2023-24 there is no 1-and-1.
• NCAA men: two 20-minute halves, and overtime is an extension of the second half (5-9-4). The opponent shoots a 1-and-1 from the 7th team foul in a half and two shots from the 10th (8-2). Team fouls include personal fouls (offensive fouls too) and Class A technicals, while Class B technicals count toward neither the team fouls nor the 5 fouls. Ejection comes with 2 Class A, 1 Class A plus 2 Class B, 3 Class B, or one flagrant 2; three flagrant 1 fouls disqualify (4-12-1, 10-3, 10-4).
• NCAA women: four 10-minute quarters, with 2 free throws from the 5th team foul in a quarter. An offensive foul counts as a team foul but carries no free throws (8-2). Ejection comes with two technicals, two flagrant 1 fouls, a technical plus a flagrant 1, or one flagrant 2 (4-14-2).
• NBA: a player is disqualified on the 6th personal foul (rule 3-I-a). Beyond 4 team fouls in a quarter, or 3 in overtime, the opponent shoots 2 free throws, and a team that has not reached that count in the first 10 minutes (3 in overtime) may commit one team foul without penalty in the last 2 minutes (12B-V). An offensive foul is a personal foul but not a team foul (12B-VII). Two unsportsmanlike technicals, two flagrant 1 fouls or one flagrant 2 mean ejection (12A-V-b, 12B-IV). The tool has no clock, so you switch on 'Last 2 minutes' for that period yourself.

Reading the sample game

The sample on the first screen is a game in the third quarter under US high school (NFHS) rules. The team fouls by period are below. Home has 4 team fouls in the 3rd quarter, so its light is on and the next foul sends the opponent to the line for 2 free throws. Away committed 5 in the 2nd quarter, so the 5th foul was already in the free-throw zone (2 shots unless it was a shooting foul with its own free throws or a player-control foul), and in the 3rd quarter Away is at 3, one team foul short of the free-throw zone.

In the player rows, Home's #7 has three personal fouls and a technical. Under NFHS the technical counts as a personal foul and a team foul, so he is at 4 and the row shows '1 foul from out'. Away's #21 has one personal foul. Away's #12 added 3 in the 3rd quarter and reached 5, so he is shown as out and cannot be tapped again.

Common mistakes

• Mixing up 'bonus at 5' with 'penalty after 4': FIBA, NCAA women and US high school all give free throws from the 5th team foul. 'After 4' and 'from the 5th' are the same moment worded differently.
• Carrying team fouls into the next quarter: team fouls are counted fresh each quarter (each half for NCAA men). Press 'Next' every time you change periods.
• Starting overtime team fouls from 0: only the NBA starts a new count. FIBA, NCAA women and US high school continue the 4th quarter, and NCAA men continue the second half.
• Giving free throws on an offensive foul: even in the penalty, a foul by the team with the ball ends in a throw-in. The NBA does not count it as a team foul at all, so choose 'Offensive' in the type buttons.
• Leaving a player's technical out of the team fouls: in FIBA, NCAA women and US high school, a technical on a player also counts as a team foul and toward the 5 fouls. The NBA keeps technicals separate from personal fouls, and NCAA men leave Class B technicals out of both the team-foul total and the 5 fouls.
• Putting an interval foul in the finished quarter: in FIBA, a team foul called between quarters goes into the next one. Move to the next period first, then log it.

What this tool does not do

• It does not count technicals charged to a coach or the bench (the C and B entries in the FIBA scoresheet) or a coach's disqualification. It counts player fouls only.
• How many free throws are actually awarded depends on whether the player was shooting, whether it was an offensive foul and whether the basket counted. The screen only tells you whether the team fouls have reached the penalty zone.
• With no game clock, the NBA's last 2 minutes is a switch you turn on yourself, and score and timeouts are not tracked.
• Rules added by a single league, 3x3 basketball and the modified rules of youth tournaments are not covered. If your tournament rules differ, follow them.
• The log is stored only in this browser on this device and is never sent to a server. It is not shared with other devices, so on a shared computer clear it with 'New game' when the game is over.
• Up to 20 players per team and up to 9 overtimes are recorded.

As of October 23, 2026. Rule citations were checked against the original documents below, and will be checked again when the next season's rules come out.

Sources

• 01FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2026 v1.1 (in force from October 1, 2026)36.3.1 technicals and team fouls, 41.1 and 41.4 five fouls and disqualification, 42.1 to 42.2 team-foul penalty, overtime, offensive fouls
• 02FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2026: Rule Changes v1.1Unsportsmanlike foul replaced by disruptive and flagrant; technical categories 1 and 2
• 03FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2024 v1.0a40.1 five fouls, 40.4 technical and unsportsmanlike disqualification, 41.1 team fouls
• 04Jumpball (July 25, 2026, in Korean): when the KBL and WKBL adopt the new foul rulesThe KBL plans to apply the new FIBA rules from the 2027-28 season
• 05NBA Official Playing Rules 2026-273-I-a six fouls, 12A-V-b technical ejection, 12B-IV flagrant, 12B-V team-foul penalty and last 2 minutes, 12B-VII offensive fouls
• 06NCAA Men's Basketball Rules 2026-274-12-1 five fouls, 5-9-4 overtime, 8-2 bonus, 10-3 and 10-4 Class A and Class B technicals
• 07NCAA Women's Basketball Rules4-12-1 and 4-14-2 ejection, 5-9-4 overtime, 8-2 bonus and team-foul total
• 08NCAA 2025-26 Major Rules Differences (NFHS comparison)US high school: 2 free throws from the 5th team foul, reset after quarters 1 to 3, five fouls and ejection
• 09IESA: NFHS 2023-24 Basketball Rule Changes1-and-1 removed; ruling that overtime extends the 4th quarter, so team fouls do not reset

Frequently asked questions

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