By: Chris Harlan
Wednesday, December 3, 2025 | 9:49 PM
Norwin’s Chris McKnight shoots a 3-pointer against Penn-Trafford on Tuesday at Norwin. (Christopher Horner | TribLive)
The long-standing debate about whether Pennsylvania high school basketball needs a shot clock is no longer up for discussion.
Now, it’s just a matter of time.
The PIAA board on Wednesday voted to officially adopt the shot clock for both boys and girls basketball starting with the 2028-29 season, giving schools a three-year window to purchase the equipment and train clock operators. The board passed the proposal on a third and final reading.
“I think it’s a good thing,” said WPIAL administrator Vince Sortino, who attended the PIAA meeting in Mechanicsburg.
Sortino understands the issue better than most. He has manned the shot clock at Duquesne University for years and always said adoption at the high school level was going to happen eventually.
“It was inevitable,” Sortino said. “Now, we give schools time to plan, purchase and do all of the things necessary. I’d even recommend schools get a training process in place, if they wanted, so that once it hits, you’re not starting the process then.”
Game officials also have time to train for the shot clocks.
The rule change, which adds the clocks for varsity and junior varsity games, first passed the board in July. Adding the clocks was a controversial topic for years, but a PIAA survey last spring showed growing support among schools and game officials.
“You’ll have people that like it and don’t like it,” Sortino said. “Having done shot clock for 43 years, it’ll be a change around here, but I think it’s good for the game.”
The shot clock won’t be used this winter or during the next two basketball seasons. Instead, the board chose to wait until the following two-year schedule starts in 2028.
The shot clock has gained momentum not just in Pennsylvania but also nationwide.
At least 31 states and Washington, D.C., will use a shot clock in some capacity by the start of the 2026-27 season, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. The NFHS writes the rulebook used by the PIAA and gave states the option of adopting a 35-second clock starting with the 2022-23 season.
“I’m big supporter of it and thought it should’ve already been in place by now,” Chartiers Valley boys coach Corey Dotchin said. “International plays with it. There are other states that play with it. Having it will help the game so much from a development standpoint, keep things interesting and add a new dynamic.”
What it’ll do most is eliminate the stall.
No longer could a team hold onto the ball and watch the game clock run. That’s a tactic used to slow down a talented opponent, but more often it’s deployed by a team with a slim lead late in the fourth quarter.
Dotchin’s Colts last year averaged almost 70 points per game and won the WPIAL Class 5A title, but he admits the temptation to stall with the lead in a big moment is real.
“I can say it for myself,” Dotchin said. “Last year in the playoffs against Montour in the semifinals, we were up three with a couple of minutes left. We held the ball a little bit. Some people will say that’s not fair in a way, but we weren’t breaking any rules.
“That’s when you really see it. Late in a game, teams start to milk the clock and not get aggressive and let up on the gas. That’s why I think it’s going to be good for the game.”
Norwin girls coach Brian Brozeski said he sees the clock as good for development overall and for helping players transition to the next level. But on a more basic level, it should make games more enjoyable to watch.
“Not that you want to come out and be the Harlem Globetrotters by any means, but you want to have a product that’s good, quality basketball,” Brozeski said. “And I think the shot clock is going to help.”
The Norwin girls reached the WPIAL Class 6A finals last season, and the Knights surely saw their share of slow play. But Brozeski admitted he’d deployed a stall before, too.
“We were in West Virginia at a basketball camp of all places,” he said with a laugh. “I think I stalled for 40 seconds because we were in a situation against a quality opponent. … I caught a little grief over that.”
Springdale’s Mike Dudjak coaches a Class A girls team that qualified for the WPIAL playoffs last year, but the Dynamos are still finding their way as a program. They might not have the skill of a section foe like Union, but Dudjak isn’t afraid of a shot clock.
“For our girls, I think early on it will take an adjustment, but they’ll have to adjust to it,” said Dudjak, a third-year coach. “From what I understand, there are kids overseas at the middle school level who play with a shot clock on a faster pace. I feel it’s a positive.”
In fact, with an eye toward the future, Dudjak said he might consider letting the middle school players he coaches in the fall practice with a shot clock at some point.
“I also think it’s beneficial for those who have aspirations to play on the next level,” Dudjak said. “Not just the Division I girls, but Division II and III or junior college or NAIA, they all play with shot clocks.”
Brozeski agreed that adding a shot clock could help players transition to the next level. Besides, in an ultra-competitive recruiting landscape, might college coaches favor a high schooler who already has shot clock experience?
“Especially when you have other states that have been implementing the shot clock,” Brozeski said. “It’s crazy, but we live in a recruiting world.”
Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.