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A national rule mandating a shot clock in boys and girls high school basketball will have to wait for another vote.
The National Federation of State High School Associations announced Monday that it voted against a proposal to implement a shot clock in every state starting in 2020-21.
As it is now, only eight states — California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Washington — use a 30- or 35-second shot clock.
A vote count was not provided by the NFHS.
"Information was given to the Basketball Rules Committee that shared the votes in individual states on how coaches and officials voted in support of or non-support of the shot clock rule," NFHS Director of Sports and Liaison to the Basketball Rules Committee Theresia Wynns said in a statement. "The conversation among the committee members explored the pros and cons of enacting the proposal as a rule for all states and likewise for state adoption. The committee will continue to explore the shot clock issue."
Josephine Howery and her St. Mary's (Colorado Springs, Colo.) teammates ranked 11th in the country in scoring (74.9 per game) without a shot clock.
File photo by Derek Regensburger
One of the reasons against a shot clock historically is monetary, both in the cost of equipment and an official to track the timer each game. The current COVID-19 pandemic certainly didn't help negate either concern.
Slowing the game and failing to keep up with college and professional rules have been sharp criticisms of states for not implementing a shot clock. But statistically, a lack thereof hasn't necessarily cut down scoring.
Of the top 20 boys scoring teams in the country during the 2019-20 season, only two teams — both from California — played with a shot clock. Of the top 20 girls scoring teams, 18 of the 20 also came from states without a shot clock.
Other rules discussed and subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors during its annual April 14-16 meeting included:
* A game is declared a forfeit if a coach is removed from the contest for unsporting conduct and no authorized school personnel are present to assume responsibility of the team.
* An official is not required to provide a warning to a coach before a technical foul is given.
* When a player is disqualified or injured, a warning signal is sounded to begin a 15-second interval to replace a disqualified or injured player. A second warning signal was added when the 15 seconds expires to prepare teams for the resumption of play.
The NFHS also revealed basketball participation numbers. According to a 2018-19 survey, a total of 540,769 boys participated in 18,617 schools, and 399,067 girls participated in 18,210 schools across the country.
It is the third-most popular sport for boys and girls.
