DUANE SHERRILLEditor

The TSSAA board of control which oversees high school athletics in Tennessee agreed this past week to take a look at integrating a shot clock into high school basketball with the first steps in that direction planned for this summer.

After a lengthy discussion regarding the feasibility of the implementation of a shot clock, the Board voted to permit the Tennessee Basketball Coaches’ Association to use a shot clock on an experimental level during their upcoming 2023 summer camps. While the move is preliminary, the ultimate goal is to begin using shot clocks in all TSSAA games at some point. A shot clock dictates how much time a team can keep control of the ball. In the professional leagues the clock is 24 seconds; however, for most high schools which use shot clocks around the country, the accepted length is 35 seconds for boys and 30 seconds for girls. It was not revealed what time frame the TSSAA will experiment with this summer nor was it revealed what associated rules would be added, such as resetting a clock for a kicked ball or defensive out of bounds.

Tullahoma Lady Wildcats Coach Chad Hibdon who just led his squad to the second round of the regional tournament said he welcomes a shot clock.

“I think it’d be good for the game,” he said. “It would help keep a consistent pace and keep games consistent throughout the season where you wouldn’t have teams scoring 60 earlier in the season and then see scores in the 30s in the tournament.”

Coach Hibdon pointed out that some squads do slow down the game when it comes to playoff time as a strategy to offset high powered offenses.

In addition to keeping consistency, the coach said it will help prepare student athletes for the next level where the shot clock is used in college.

“In high school, it would likely lead to deeper rotations of players,” he pointed out as the game would become quicker.

Wildcat Head Coach Jason Welch also welcomes the shot clock and admits it would change the game.

“It would change strategy and change the end of games,” he said, noting game plans would be modified knowing a slower style of offense would not be permitted under shot clock rules.

While in favor of a high school shot clock, Coach Welch said he wants to see how things work out in its experimental stages.

“I welcome the change but I’m not sure how well it will run,” he said.

Should the rule be passed requiring shot clocks, school gyms across the state would have to install them if they do not already silently exist with current systems. There were no plans announced to use shot clocks during the 2023-24 regular season.