Varsity basketball teams will have only 35 seconds to shoot the ball in Eudora this season.
Last year, KSHSAA decided to try shot clocks with a trial year, allowing schools to decide whether their home games would feature shot clocks. Eudora opted to participate in the trial period.
Athletic Director Cara Kimberlin said the school originally wasn’t going to use shot clocks, but decided now was the best time to put in the new infrastructure because of ongoing bond projects and updates to the gym.
She said it was likely shot clocks would become a permanent feature soon. Although she is concerned about the possibility of players competing with shot clocks on some nights and without them the next, she said now was the best time for the school to make the change.
“It just seemed like the smart time to go ahead and get those purchased and installed, because it’s coming,” Kimberlin said.
Girls basketball head coach Brandon Parker agreed the most challenging impact of the shot clocks is the possibility for inconsistency for players and officials.
“The referees are going to be just like the coaches and the players,” he said. “They may have it one night and the next night they don’t have it.”
He said the change will make for fun basketball, help increase the pace of play and prevent stalling.
Parker said he isn’t quite sure yet what the implications will be for this team, but he knows it will force them to make sure they are playing fast. The biggest adjustments, he said, will likely come in late-game situations.
“I think it’ll make for fun basketball, and I think it’ll be good for the fans,” he said. “I think this is the next piece coming in and evolving the game. I think more and more states are going to it. So I think it’s an advantage for us in the sense of, you know, getting used to it, because when it comes, I don’t want to be a school that hasn’t used it.”
Sophomore Brynn Deterding said there were pros and cons to the change. But any changes will affect both teams during a contest, so Deterding said the team will stay focused on trying to find a way to win, even if the shot clock changes their strategy.
“I think it might also be kind of fun because if it gets late in the shot clock, you have to find a creative way to make a shot,” Deterding said. “So I think that will also be very different, but fun.”
Boys basketball head coach Tyler Cleveland anticipates this year’s team will play fast, so the shot clock shouldn’t affect them much. But defensively, it can allow the team to play more aggressively, knowing opponents only have a set amount of time to run their plays.
“I don’t think it’s going to be an issue for us,” he said. “I think where it will become an issue is a late game situations where you do have to shoot. You can’t run one or two minutes off the clock. But as far as coming out, you know, we’re going to play fast this year, and I think getting a shot up in 35 seconds is not going to be an issue for us.”
Senior Connor Watson said the shot clock will help prepare players for the next level. The strategy changes the shot clock will require can help make players better at managing close-game situations.
“I think it will be exciting, especially to watch teams and how they run new plays and not hold the ball as much,” he said. “It’ll make games definitely closer and more competitive. I feel like it’ll be fun, and it’s going to be a great opportunity.”
Reach reporter Cuyler Dunn at [email protected]
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