City of Basketball Love

Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)
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It had been rumored for months and passed through the various layers of Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) amendment process, and now, as of Wednesday, December 3, the PIAA made the shot clock official on the third reading.

A 35-second shot clock will be instituted beginning in the 2028-29 season for all member PIAA schools playing basketball, giving statewide schools and school districts a chance to economically pay for the systems, which have been estimated to cost between the range of $5,000 to $20,000, depending on whether it was floor or backboard mounted and whether it was hard-wired or wireless.

The PIAA Board of Directors approved a shot clock by a unanimous 29-0 vote on the third and final reading, up from the 22-9 vote the amendment received upon its first reading in the amendment to its bylaws.

The shot clock will be used for all varsity and junior varsity games, boys and girls, and it is something that the National Federation of High Schools (NFHS) instituted before the 2022-23 season.

There are 31 states that use the shot clock right now.

“It is something that makes sense, and the vote by our board reflects that,” PIAA Executive Director Dr. Robert A. Lombardi told City of Basketball Love. “The only real push back we received from membership schools was the cost, but that is something that each individual membership school and school district now has time to budget. You can have a mobile shot clock that can be shared, or a high-end shot clock that is attached to the top of the backboard, which you see in the NBA and major colleges.

“It will all depend on what the schools can afford. The only other obstacle we foresaw was training someone to operate the shot clock. Because this is not starting until the 2028-29 season, that will give everyone time to train someone reliable to handle it. Every major basketball league in the country, and in the world right now, plays with a shot clock. We felt it was best for our student-athletes to prepare them for college basketball by playing with a shot clock. We see it as a win-win, which benefits everyone.”

What it will eliminate is coaches opting to dribble out the final minutes of a tight game, which creates stagnant, station-to-station basketball, a product no one cares to see, according to many respected area coaches.

It will speed up the game, and make it more like hoops in the 2000s, rather than basketball played in the 1950s.

“I wish the shot clock started tomorrow,” said legendary Imhotep Charter coach Andre Noble, the 10-time PIAA state championship and 12-time Philadelphia Public League champion. “I have long been a proponent of shot clock, I just wish we did not have to wait until 2028-29 to have it installed. I think a shot clock is so much better for the game, and I am glad that the PIAA made it official.

“The shot clock makes high school basketball a more realistic experience for our student-athletes, because everyone played with a shot clock, except for us. It gives student-athletes a more real-game experience. I’m looking forward to it. I think it going to be great for our students, and great for the game.”

How different will the game look in comparison to the current high school rules, without a shot clock, being played today?

“I’ll give you one very important situation, where a team is up by two or three, with 1:40 on the clock,” Noble said. “And they hold the ball, and they don’t play basketball at the end of the game. Who wants to watch that? That’s not the game on any other level, it’s not D-II, D-III, it’s not any level of basketball. At no level of basketball does that happen. I am not saying it to criticize other coaches for stalling in the end, I do it, too. But it should not be the rules. Teams should have to play.

“People think it will be advantage for urban schools, but I think it will balance the game out. On the other side of it, if I am a slower team, and pack line team, you have to shoot the ball, you can’t hold it any longer at halfcourt. Teams have to play. Even for the slower teams, they could use strategies that could not use without a shot clock. It becomes basketball, not chase or tag with the way it is now.”

SCH's Julian McFadden offered thoughts on the recently-approved shot clock (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL).

In 2020, the Inter-Academic League introduced a 30-second shot clock. Springside-Chestnut Hill Academy coach Julian McFadden said it tremendously altered how he coached his team.

“It makes you coach differently, and it’s been to our advantage,” McFadden said. “It makes you think more about the backcourt. If you are a team that pressures a little bit, the team that is bringing up the ball better cross halfcourt fast, because if it takes eight or nine seconds to get over halfcourt, the clock is now down to around 21 seconds, and that speeds up their possession.

“The shot clock affects how you coach games. Back when John Harmatuk was Malvern Prep’s head coach, they liked to shoot the ball in eight seconds or less. They wanted more possessions than you had. If you apply zone pressure, you can get them out of rhythm more quickly and change the way they call a game. The shot clock is a big difference. We play PIAA teams without the shot clock, and I felt it hurt us. It changes the way you think about the game as a coach.” 

“I love coaching with a shot clock. It helps everyone as long as you are playing it right.”

State champion Plymouth-Whitemarsh coach Jim Donofrio wholeheartedly concurred with Noble, saying the shot clock should have been instituted five years ago. But last Wednesday’s decision was an important step towards keeping up with the modern game.

“The shot clock gets kids ready for the college game, and it is the modern game,” Donofrio said. “In terms of a competitive angle, it is always trick playing teams that do hold the ball for 90 seconds or two minutes at a time. Selfishly, it is one less thing that I have to worry about, in that sense. People who didn’t want a shot clock, they imagine the game in different styles, but to make kids improve as players, they have to play the game fundamentally fast. If you are a good stand-still shooter, that is great. To do it that much faster, that is required in today’s game.

“The kids like to play fast. It’s the way the game moves, and it is fast paced today. The slower style is antiquated, even methodical.”

Chris Roantree, head coach of the defending Philadelphia Catholic League and PIAA Class 6A champion Father Judge, and Bonner-Prendie coach Billy Cassidy are also happy the shot clock has been passed.

“It should have happened five years ago, but I don’t think it will affect how we play, or how anyone in the Catholic League plays, because we all play fast,” Roundtree said. “We are happy to see, especially when you get later into the state playoffs. People think it is an advantage to hold the ball, but if you are down, you do not have to guard the whole 94 feet in the fourth quarter because someone is going to be able to hold the basketball.”

Added Cassidy, “The shot clock will make the game more excited and place more challenges on the coaches and players to time manage the game. It will play a huge part at the end of games. You will get more possessions at the end of games for both sides, and it will prepare high school players the best moving forward. It’s a win-win for the coaches and players.”

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Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter based in the Philadelphia area who began writing for CoBL in 2021 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on BlueSky here.