<\/p>\n
Alton boys basketball coach Dylan\u00a0Dudley reacts during a timeout last\u00a0season at AHS. Dudley is happy with the IHSA giving final approval to begin use of a 35-second shot clock for varsity boys and girls games beginning with the upcoming 2026-27 season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pete Hayes\/The Telegraph.
.
<\/p>\n
The Illinois High School Association has put the basketball shot clock through enough test runs. The motor checked out, the tires have been kicked and the 35-second shot cock is officially on its way come next season.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The IHSA Board of Directors approved the shot clock June 15 and will require it for all varsity boys and girls basketball games beginning with the 2026-27 season.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
After a year of experimenting with the shot clock, the IHSA is moving forward.\u00a0The move comes after years of discussion as well as the trial use of shot clocks in tournaments.<\/p>\n
The shot clock will be required for usage in varsity girls and boys basketball games. Use of the shot clock for freshman, sophomore and junior varsity games will be determined by conferences and by mutual agreement by competing teams in non-conference games.<\/p>\n
Alton High School boys basketball coach Dylan Dudley is happy with the move.<\/p>\n
“I’m a big fan of the shot clock, ” Dudley said. “The quality of play and players’ individual skills are improved.”<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
The IHSA allowed for experimental use of the shot clock in 2022-23 and 2023-24, providing teams the option to use it in tournaments and\u00a0shootouts. In June of last year, the\u00a0IHSA Board voted to implement a 35-second shot clock for all varsity games beginning with the 2026-27 season in order to provide schools with time to plan and install the devices. At the same meeting, the shot clock remained option for regular-season games in 2024-25 and 2025-26 when mutually agreed upon by the competing teams.<\/p>\n
According to an Illinois Basketball Coaches Association survey, 75 percent of boys head coaches and 68 percent of girls head coaches are in favor of a shot clock. There were 29 states with shot clocks last season with Illinois and Oklahoma joining group this year. New Jersey and Pennsylvania have\u00a0plans to add the shot clock in coming years as well.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Illinois High School Association has given final approval for the use of a 35-second shot clock for all boys and girls varsity basketball games beginning with the 2026-27 season.<\/p>\n
File <\/p>\n
The Southwestern Conference, which includes Alton and Edwardsville high schools, implemented the use of the shot clock last season for conference contests in boys and girls basketball games. The clock was also used in most tournament games as well, but not in postseason playoff games.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
“It should be a smooth transition at Alton,” said AHS athletic director Chris Kusnerick. “We used the shot clock for all our varsity and junior varsity home games, expect for a couple of girls non-conference games last year.<\/p>\n
“We asked all the non-conference teams for boys and girls if they wanted to play using the shot clock and only two girls teams said they didn’t.”<\/p>\n
Schools must have “properly mounted shot clocks on the backboards in their primary gym” in order to host varsity basketball games.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is important that we provide\u00a0clear-cut guidelines to our schools on the expectations for the shot clock as we move toward the 2026-27 season,\u201d IHSA Executive director Craig Anderson said in a news release. \u201cWe believe our Board was forward-thinking in providing significant planning time for schools to prepare for the shot clock. It is imperative that all schools are afforded the same competitive experience and that every student-athlete competes under consistent conditions. By establishing these expectations, schools have had ample opportunity to budget, plan, and install the necessary equipment, ensuring an equitable environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
\u00a0The cost for adding shots clocks for area schools has been in the $5,000 range, plus $2,000 for installing the equipment. In addition to the clocks themselves, scorer’s table equipment to run them is needed as well.<\/p>\n
Schools without shot clocks must find a gym that does meet the requirements. If an alternate site can\u2019t be found, the visiting team will host the game. If neither school has compliant shot clocks installed, the home team will forfeit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In addition, an\u00a0additional scorers table person may be needed to start, stop and rest the clock during games.<\/p>\n
“That’s the best-case scenario,” Kusnerick said. “Last year, the person that ran the music at games was a basketball official and since there’s no music during live action, he ran the clock.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
“Some schools may need to use a person with with responsibilities to run\u00a0the shot clock, though. I know the referees last season were glad to have the season to get used to it also.”<\/p>\n
“We ordered the equipment two years ago,” Kusnerick. “I knew it was coming, so we wanted to be prepared. And when we built the new auxiliary gym, we had shot clocks installed during construction with the anticipation of the shot clock coming to the high school level.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jersey coach Matt Murphy shouts instructions to his players during a game last season. Murphy said the IHSA’s mandatory 35-second shot clock, which goes into effect this coming season, will ‘open up the game for transition and more scoring.’<\/p>\n
Pete Hayes\/The Telegraph<\/p>\n
The shot clock’s effect on the style of play pretty much eliminates stalling tactics to eat up time.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Jersey High School’s boys basketball team “played shot clock last year as much as we could,” according to head coach Matt Murphy.<\/p>\n
“I think the biggest impact it has in games and strategy is that I always preached ‘Let’s look for\u00a0 great shot, not just a good one,” Murphy said. “And now, your ‘good shot’ might be seven seconds in or 27 seconds in.<\/p>\n
“You have to shoot the first good look you get. I’m sure other coaches have different philosophies, but working the ball now might end up in scramble\u00a0to get a look.<\/p>\n
“I think it opens up the game for transition and more scoring.”<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Alton’s Dudley said that while stall tactics have been affected, the clock can actually improve performance.<\/p>\n
“Obviously, for us and the way we play, it helps us even more,” Dudley said. “We want as many possessions as possible; we want the ball back.<\/p>\n
“Stalling has been eliminated, but it also places a greater premium on offensive execution to ensure you aren’t scrambling late clock to get a shot.”<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alton boys basketball coach Dylan\u00a0Dudley reacts during a timeout last\u00a0season at AHS. Dudley is happy with the IHSA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":750920,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[351912,64,63,726,44,85],"class_list":["post-750919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-altgame","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=750919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/750920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=750919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=750919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=750919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}