IHSA Finalizes Rule Details for Shot Clock Implementation

Varsity boys and girls basketball in the state will feature the shot clock this coming school year and the IHSA has finalized all of its guidelines ahead of its first year of required use. The IHSA Board of Directors had their monthly meeting on Monday and accepted recommendations of the Basketball Advisory Committee to finalize the rules heading into year 1 of mandatory shot clock use which include the policy adoption that states that ”a school may not host a varsity contest if a shot clock is not installed or is not properly mounted on the backboard in the primary gym in accordance with NFHS rules. The host school must secure an alternate facility or allow the opponent to host the contest. If the host school is unable to secure a gym with functioning shot clocks and the opposing school cannot host, the game shall be forfeited by the home team.” It also goes on to address a situation where multiple gyms may be used for an event stating “when a school hosts a tournament or shootout utilizing multiple gyms or sites, and a traditional backboard-mounted shot clock is not feasible in an auxiliary gym, shot clocks must be mounted on the wall behind the basket, at or above the backboard, and must be clearly visible and unobstructed.” This comes after the IHSA pushed back the implementation of the shot clock to this school year with there having a four-year period since the 2022-2023 school year where schools could experiment with using the shot clock. At this time, the use of shot clock for any junior varsity, freshman and sophomore games is optional. Other guidelines recommended by the Basketball Advisory Committee that were approved includes protocols for when the shot clock is reset.