Boys basketball now will use a shot clock

RENTON

Boys high school basketball in Washington now has a shot clock.

School athletic directors from throughout the state overwhelmingly approved adding the shot clock during the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s Representative Assembly on April 24. It will be used starting with the 2009-10 season.

After voting 42-11 in favor of the shot clock – a longtime fixture in college and pro basketball, intended to speed up play and add excitement – the assembly approved a 35-second clock, the time frame used by college men.

“It’s a great deal. I think we should have had it a long time ago,” said WIAA District 1 director Jim Piccolo, who voted for the clock.

Washington has used a shot clock for girls high school basketball since the 1970s. The girls clock is 30 seconds. During the past basketball season, Washington was one of eight states that used a shot clock in either boys or girls basketball. California, Massachusetts, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island and South Dakota had a clock for both.

Many fans and coaches, particularly younger ones, have expressed enthusiasm for a shot clock in boys basketball, Piccolo said. Besides adding excitement, it provides consistency among the prep and college games, he said.

“For players who go to the next level, they’ll be ready for it,” said Piccolo. “And to be honest with you, I don’t know how many players really think about it when they’re out there. They’re just playing.”

The boys shot clock amendment needed 60 percent support to pass. It easily exceeded that with 79 percent approval.

“By and large, I’m not too surprised that it passed,” District 1 representative Robert Polk said, “because it’s been a conversation piece for many years, about whether or not (boys basketball) needed it. I think people are ready for the change.”

Asked about possible expenses, Polk – athletic director of the Everett School District – said it will cost about $30 per game to pay a shot-clock operator. Since the girls already use a shot clock, there will be no equipment or installation costs.

“Any time in our current economic situation when you talk about adding costs, there’s going to be great concern,” Polk said. But he said he expects schools to deal with the added expense – about $300 per season – or perhaps find volunteers.

How much will the shot clock affect coaches and players? There certainly will be more emphasis on preparing for last-second shots because the scenario will occur more often than just at the end of each quarter.

For coaches who prefer a slow-it-down, ball-control style on offense “obviously that’s going to change some of their strategizing,” Polk said, “because they’re not going to be able to hold the ball a minute or longer before they take a shot.”

A few local boys basketball coaches responded to news of the shot-clock vote Friday via e-mail.

“Well, I guess it was going to happen at some point and time. I’m not really excited about it, but it will definitely change the way I approach the game,” Lynnwood High coach Darrell McNeal wrote.

“I was mildly against it,” Jackson High coach Steve Johnson wrote, “but since then I have watched a lot of NCAA tourney games and seen and thought about how the shot clock can present a lot of interesting end-of-game scenarios, so I’m kind of excited about it now. I think it might not be as significant of a change as some fear anyway.”

OTHER NOTABLE VOTES: The assembly voted on 21 other amendments. A proposal to add girls lacrosse as a WIAA sanctioned sport failed, as did three proposals related to altering school classifications and enrollment counts. Voters did pass a measure that will require a running clock in the second half of football games in which a team leads by 45 points or more, a so-called mercy rule. A similar amendment failed for basketball.

BRANSMA HONORED: Karst Brandsma received the 2009 Gareth Giles Award, presented annually to individuals who exhibit leadership and dedication by serving the ideals and purposes of the WIAA. Polk, the Everett School District athletic director, presented the award to Brandsma. Currently Interim Superintendent of Everett Public Schools, Brandsma was once athletic director at Peninsula High and Tacoma’s district athletic director. He managed the Class 1A and 2A state basketball championships at the Tacoma Dome and helped coordinate Star Track at Lincoln Bowl.