Eudora basketball coaches and players had mixed reactions to a recent decision by the Kansas State High School Activities Association to try shot clocks next year.
Schools will have the choice to implement a 35-second shot clock at their varsity boys and girls home games during the 2024-25 season. If schools choose to use the shot clock, they are required to do so at every game.
Athletic Director Cara Kimberlin said she doesn’t know yet if Eudora will choose to implement the shot clock, but her initial reaction was concern the trial period would create a lot of inconsistency.
Because next year’s trial run allows schools to choose whether to use a shot clock or not, players and coaches might see the rules change from night to night.
Kimberlin also officiates basketball and said she worries the inconsistency could pose a challenge to officials learning to implement the shot clock.
Girls basketball head coach Brandon Parker said he would have preferred having everyone add a shot clock since the trial run’s inconsistency will add an extra challenge.
“I think it adds a little bit more sense of urgency,” Parker said of adding the clock. “So, understanding the game, the knowledge base has got to go up pretty quickly, just because you do have the limited time.”
Boys basketball head coach Kyle Deterding said he thinks the shot clock will be good for high school basketball in the long run, but not without some challenges along the way.
“It might make for some ugly end of shot clock possessions while teams are getting used to it, but eventually it will provide players more opportunities on offense,” he said.
Boys basketball junior Errol Siemon said he thinks the shot clock will force teams to be more conscious about limiting turnovers.
“As a team, we will have to take care of the ball more and have good possessions with the limited time we have,” Siemon said. “It’ll be new to everyone so it will definitely take some time to get used to.”
Girls basketball freshman Brynn Deterding said she is a fan of the shot clock.
“I think it will probably make the game faster, which I like,” she said. “It will probably take a while to get used to, which might cause some hiccups.”
Boys basketball player Connor Watson said he liked that high school basketball would look more like higher levels that also use a shot clock.
“I think it’s a really cool and fascinating idea for high school athletes to get to experience what college and NBA players experience everyday,” Watson said.
KSHSAA Assistant Executive Director Jeremy Holaday said there would have to be concessions, but there were coaches who wanted to give shot clocks a try.
The decision to do a trial period follows an October meeting where classes 6A and 5A favored the change, but an overall vote across all classes was 279-116 against it.
Despite the vote, Holaday said they decided to go ahead with the trial period to allow schools to experiment with how much it would cost to build and staff one for home games.
Gathering data and opinions on the shot clock is the key focus of the trial period, Holaday said. From there, they can decide whether or not it will work as a permanent fixture, he said.
“The only way to know that is to just do it,” Holaday said. “I think there’s enough coaches and ADs out there that really do want this in the game, that they appreciate the ability to try it.”
Holaday said the concern for staffing the shot clock at schools was one of the biggest topics for future consideration, especially with smaller schools.
Kimberlin said the Eudora High School gym isn’t equipped with a shot clock, but it wouldn’t pose too big of an expense or challenge because of ongoing improvements being made after voters approved a $40 million bond issue in May.
“It kind of times out nice for us because we are on the front end of putting in that auxiliary gym, which was approved in the bond issue,” Kimberlin said.
Kansas schools opting into the trial will track information like shot clock violations and share feedback.
“This is the direction of high school basketball,” Holaday said.
Reach reporter Cuyler Dunn at eudoratimes@gmail.com
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