Shot clock gets trial run at SC prep basketball games. Is full-time usage on horizon?
The trial period for using shot clocks during high school basketball games in South Carolina is under way, and the feedback so far has included mostly favorable reviews.
“Anybody that has played with one, I haven’t heard anything negative. I am hoping that more and more teams will adapt and learn how to use it,” said Westwood High coach John Combs, who is the president of the S.C. Basketball Coaches Association.
“Everyone I talked to that has used it has liked it,” Byrnes High boys basketball coach Layne Fowler said.
Fowler has been one of the biggest proponents in recent years of adding a shot clock in South Carolina. He created a proposal and conducted a straw poll on the idea with the state’s Class 5A athletic directors in 2018, but it was voted down.
In April 2022, however, the S.C. High School League’s executive committee passed by a 10-2 vote the use a 35-second shot clock in showcases or invitational basketball events held in the state. A trial period lasts for two years before a possible vote could be taken to use it full-time for all games, meaning shot clock usage wouldn’t be adopted on a larger scale until at least the 2024-25 school year.
The SCHSL move followed the National Federation of State High School Associations’ decision that allowed a 35-second shot clock in boys and girls high school basketball games, if each state wanted, beginning in 2022-23.
There are 12 states that use the shot clock, with Oregon (for 2023-24) becoming the latest. Oregon joined California, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah and Washington as the only states using a 30- or 35-second shot clock. This is the first year Georgia made it mandatory after a two-year trial period.
Fowler used the shot clock during last weekend’s McDonald’s Shot Clock Showcase at Byrnes. Around 10 or so different tournaments have used the shot clock this season statewide, including Battle at The Rock in Rock Hill, The Bash at Ridge View High School, the Chick-fil-A Classic at River Bluff and the Beach Ball Classic at Myrtle Beach.
This week’s MLK Bash at Eau Claire High School also will use it for the girls games on Saturday and boys games on Monday.
“That gives a bigger sample size, so to speak,” Fowler said.
Some coaches, including Irmo’s Tim Whipple, aren’t sold on the idea. The Yellow Jackets played with a shot clock during an event in Spartanburg in December.
“I’m not in favor of a shot clock because I don’t think it serves any purpose. The shot clock made no difference in our games at all,” Whipple said this week. “The only times it does or has relevance is the last few minutes of the game. You are forced to shoot.”
In addition to Combs and Whipple, The State surveyed 11 other Midlands boys or girls basketball coaches about the issue, and all 11 said they’d be in favor of using a shot clock full-time.
The proponents say it makes for a better flow of the game and prevents teams from holding onto the ball. And it gets the athletes used to how the game is played at higher levels.
“Shot clock is great. For us, it doesn’t affect us a ton,” Cardinal Newman coach Phillip Deter said. “Yeah, there are some scenarios where we would like to delay and run some more clock when it is close. But at the end of the day, if you want to be a college player, you have to play with a shot clock.
“For me, I will push it all day long. When will we see it continuously in South Carolina? Hopefully soon. I think it makes the game better.”
The biggest drawbacks are the costs of the added equipment and having to find a person — perhaps a volunteer or a paid official — to operate the clock. Typical costs for a pair of shot clocks range from $2,400 to $3,500, Fowler said.
The Chick-fil-A Classic and some of the other events had referees run the shot clock. The CFA tournament at River Bluff had three referees each day who took turns operating the new clocks. There were eight games a day over the final three days of the tournament.
Fowler plans to send out a survey after this season to the state’s coaches and gauge their feedback on the times they used a shot clock. Then he plans to meet with Combs and the S.C. Basketball Coaches Association so they can talk over the idea of with their principals and athletic directors — and possibly get it on the docket for a vote at the 2024 ADs meeting in Charleston.
“This summer, I need to make a push and get people (coaches) talking to their principals so we can give them the information they need,” Fowler said. “When it goes to a vote, it doesn’t have to be for all classifications, although I hope it would. But if we could get it passed for 5A, and say 4A, then we could get it started and then everyone else could get on board. Several states I talked to started with top classifications.
“And you are always going to have some naysayers. But they didn’t want that three-point line in 1986, and that has made a pretty big difference.”
MLK Bash Schedule
At Eau Claire High School
Girls
Saturday
Hartsville vs Ridge View, 11 am
South Florence vs AC Flora, 12:30 pm
Wren vs Gray Collegiate, 2 pm
Military Magnet vs Lower Richland, 3:30 pm
North Augusta vs Camden, 5 pm
Westwood vs Keenan, 6:30 pm
Boys
Monday
West Florence vs AC Flora, 10:50 am
Cardinal Newman vs Westwood, noon
Sumter vs Irmo, 1:30 pm
Lancaster vs Spring Valley, 3 pm
Ridge View vs Keenan, 4:30 pm
Gray Collegiate vs Wilson, 6 pm
This story was originally published January 13, 2023 at 1:53 PM with the headline "Shot clock gets trial run at SC prep basketball games. Is full-time usage on horizon?."
