The University Interscholastic League is going to allow schools to experiment with a 35-second shot clock for basketball beginning next school year. But there are caveats.
It will be optional for all classifications, and it would only be available for varsity tournaments and showcase events upon mutual agreement between coaches.
“It’s intended to enhance skill development of players, eliminate stalling tactics to ensure competitive fairness and prepare student athletes for the structural realities of college basketball,” said Susan Bohn, chair for the UIL’s Standing Committee on Athletics.
The UIL’s Legislative Council met Wednesday in Round Rock to review rules and vote on proposed rule changes, and the UIL approved its staff to conduct a survey of statewide superintendents to add a shot clock possibly down the road outside of the new pilot program. The UIL also asked its staff to develop an implementation plan for adding a shot clock at some point.
There was also a continued push Wednesday to get the UIL to adopt a shot clock on a permanent basis. Johnnie Carter, executive director of the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, pointed out that 32 states used a shot clock this past season and five more states are adopting that for next season.
The TABC surveyed its coaches, and 62% of those who participated were in favor of adding a shot clock. Carter proposed adding it for the 2027-28 season, saying that it shouldn’t take long to train people on how to use the equipment.
“Working a shot clock is not major surgery,” he said.
Brian Polk, chief operating officer for the Texas High School Coaches Association, also lobbied for the state to add a shot clock and proposed a pilot program to use it in Class 6A and 5A only.
“There are financial concerns, but they feel strongly that this is what is best for basketball in the state of Texas and that it’s good for their kids,” Polk said.
The Texas Girls Coaches Association did its own survey and found that those in 1A and 2A were against adding a shot clock, while the other four classifications are all in favor of adopting one. Class 6A had the highest support for a shot clock, at 81%.
Other measures: The UIL approved its staff to survey superintendents on adding flag football and to develop an implementation plan for making it a sanctioned activity.
The UIL passed a proposal in concept to give the higher seeded teams in all team sports the option to have home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs and to also offer that for schools in football in Class 4A and below. That is currently only an option for 6A and 5A football teams.
That proposal, which came from the Texas High School Coaches Association, included a mileage restriction that would allow schools to opt out if they were going to have to travel a long way. The Texas Association of Basketball Coaches and the Texas High School Athletic Director Association voiced their support for adding home-field advantage.