Could UIL High School basketball be bringing in the shot clock? Well, say it ain’t so! Recently the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (TABC) performed a survey for all Texas UIL head basketball coaches to participate in. This past week TABC released the poll and it appears that most coaches want the shot clock implemented.
According to TABC, more than 2,000 head basketball coaches participated in the survey which is just over 80%. The survey included every class (1A-6A) and both genders, girls and boys basketball. The survey showed overall that 61.65% of the head coaches want the shot clock implemented, whereas 38.35% do not. Breaking down the survey by class and gender, the smaller classes do not want the shot clock as opposed to the larger classes.
In Class 1A, the boy’s coaches were 42% in favor and the girl’s coaches were 40% in favor. Wellman-Union ISD (Class 1A) Athletic Director and Head Girls Basketball Coach Josh Bailey said, “I voted yes. I think the game is evolving and the shot clock brings the necessary change to grow the game and make it more appealing to the younger generations!” Meadow ISD’s Head Boys Basketball Coach Jonathan Alaniz is also in favor of the shot clock saying, “I like the idea of it. I think it would add another fun element to coaching. Having a shot clock forces a team to execute on offense/defense in a short amount of time. I also think it couldn’t potentially make HS games more exciting, similar to college”
Although Coach Bailey voted yes, he does have some concerns as well. “My fear at the 1A level is finding people competent enough to run the shot clocks. As well as the added expense that comes with equipping our gyms to handle the change. With the change to free throws this year and eliminating the one-in-one the shot clock is necessary to increase possessions and give teams who are trailing the opportunity to catch up some way.” said Coach Bailey.
Moving on to Class 2A, the boy’s coaches are 52% in favor, whereas the girl’s coaches are 41% in favor. In Class 3A, favoring the shot clock jumped 10% from 2A on both boys and girls. The 3A boys coaches are 63% in favor and girls coaches are 51% in favor. However, Brownfield ISD’s Head Boys Basketball Coach Zayne McPherson voted against it. Coach McPherson said, “I think it would add a lot of strategy to the game and make end-of-quarters and end-of-game situations more fun. That being said I voted against it for a couple of reasons. It would add more costs to districts and would introduce many more errors into the game.”
In Class 4A, the favorability went up. 65% of boys coaches are in favor of the shot clock and 59% of girls coaches are in favor. In Class 5A, 76% of the boy’s coaches are in favor and 69% of the girl’s coaches are in favor. In the largest class, which is 6A, 86% of the boys’ coaches are in favor of the shot clock and 72% of the girls’ coaches are in favor.
TABC realizes this poll is an important first step. However, any rule change of this significance will have many steps and will be a few years to take place. According to TABC, the poll was a simple yes or no assessment to evaluate support across the state. TABC wrote on social media, “The reality of implementing the shot clock has many more potential steps and questions that still need to be answered.”
Those questions are the “length of the shot clock, what levels (Varsity, Sub-Varsity, JH), what classes (1A-6A), and if superintendents and school districts would actually support the implementation of the shot clock given the economics of adding the shot clock and paying for the game-by-game manpower to operate the clock.”
TABC and the coaches also realize that any rule change must go through the UIL and its Legislative Council. TABC plans to show and talk about the survey at the Fall UIL Legislative Council on October 15, 2023.
