I'll start by saying 8 states have had a shot clock for years. California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Washington. Nine associations added it in 2022-2023, and five more (Connecticut, Idaho, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Oregon) added it for 2023-2024.
People in basketball in Illinois are making excuses for not adding it, or saying it's too hard to implement. Anything that is new is hard to implement. Here are some of the excuses:
1) Money:
2) Paying people to run the clock:
3) Training people to run the clock:
4) Keep it unique from the higher levels of basketball by not having it:
5) Most high school players will never play college basketball so why implement it:
I say these are excuses to try and not implement it. As I said anything you implement that is new is going to be hard. There are going to be glitches nothing ever starts perfect. To me this is something that has to be implemented in our state and yesterday. IHSA says the members have to vote on it. I think it will show who can really coach and who cannot with a shot clock. Having it challenges the coaches even more than the players. The players will adjust and some of them play with one during the travel season in Spring and Summer. Big Dipper has run a 30 second shot clock for years and have done just fine. Jack Tosh Holiday Tournament will have it this season. Chicago Elite Classic had it last week and everything went pretty smooth. I will talk about solutions to the issues that I hear about.
1) Money: There are ways to get money. For the Chicago Public League who they say do not have the money for it, here's a solution:
Go to your NBA players aka Anthony Davis, Patrick Beverly, Talen Horton-Tucker, Ayo Dosumnu etc for the funds. It will be a tax write-off for them and good publicity for their brands. They can help defray costs for putting the shot clocks in the gyms, and help pay for the guys who run the clock.
Suburban schools: Use money in your budget for it or do some fund raisers to get the shot clocks in the gyms. Most raised money for field houses so you can do the same to fund the shot clock and the people to run the clock. I feel these schools will have no problem funding shot clocks, they seem to be able to do it for their other facilities.
Rural schools: Do fund raisers, bake sales, car washes etc. If you have Catholic churches use some of the bingo proceeds. Most rural towns are able to do it for other activities, and some do for the sports facilities in their towns. Also can try to use state funds in your accounting appropriations for it. Most businesses do this all the time.
2) Pay people to run the clock: Use referees who are retired or just can't keep up with the players anymore. The players stay 14-18 while officials get older. Scorers table are part of the crew so they may be the best ones to pay a stipend to run the shot clock. The others at the scorers table get paid to run the scoreboard. Once again accounting appropriations come into play. Create a fund to pay for the shot clock operators.
3) Training people to run the clock: Refer to 2.
4) Keep it unique from the higher levels of basketball by not having it: Why? Basketball needs to become more uniformity at all levels. It will keep some of the parents and people in the stands that from being confused about the rules. Example: most fans do not know that high school basketball does not use a restricted line for the charge/block call. The more the NBA rules, college rules, high school rules are alike, the less confusing it is for the fan coming to enjoy a high school basketball game. It's a better fan friendly experience for people who come to watch the game. Basketball is entertainment and folks do not want to see teams holding the ball, passing it back and forth for 2-3 minutes at a time.
5) Most high school players will never play college basketball so why implement it: It helps with life experiences. Let me explain. It helps camaraderie as every player on the court needs to show how much time is on the shot clock. That means more communication between players on both ends of the court, and communication from the coaches. It also gives the players freedom to make a play because one has to be made before end of the shot clock. In life we sometimes have to make quick decisions and use others to help make those decisions. Those are called deadlines and it helps players to be able to learn that skill earlier in life.
Message for the IHSA:
I'll volunteer to be a paid consultant to travel to states and study how they implemented the shot clock, what is needed, the cost, how those states implemented the shot clock. I would say go to California, Washington and/or Massachusetts because they've been running the shot clock for a long time. You would need to know the costs. What kind of people you use to run the clocks? What occupation do they have outside of the shot clock that is best for the position? What issues did they have in implementing it? Those are some of the questions that need to be asked of those folks. As for the money complaint? North Dakota, South Dakota, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts are small states and have managed to find the funding to run shot clocks for their games.
Finally:
If we are for the players then we should be supporting the shot clock. It's not about us as adults, it's about these young men and women. The players and we can't forget that. Do a survey of the players in those states that play with a shot clock and see how they like it? Let's do something for the players for a change and not selfish adult thoughts. Having a shot clock does not harm anything it only helps the young men and women be better players. It helps them be better people and decision makers in life. Isn't that what we want for the next generation? Big Tim's take on it? Put the shot clock in and soon like 2024-2025 season. I'm off my soapbox. Drops mic.
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