UIL takes no action on shot clock proposal, will allow live football broadcasts to continue

For now, the UIL will continue to go without a shot clock at Texas high school basketball games.

The legislative council met on Tuesday in Austin and took no action on a proposal that would have allowed shot clocks for Class 6A and 5A programs starting in the 2022-23 season.

“Now we’ve got the opportunity to add a shot clock and do what’s best for those Texas high school student-athletes again,” North Crowley boys head basketball coach Tommy Brakel said during his presentation in Austin. “Adding a shot clock does not necessarily benefit the programs that have the most athletes or want to play the quickest. All it does is regular the time, and it regulates the number of possessions in a game.”

In May, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) announced that a 35-second shot clock will be permitted in high school basketball games by state associations beginning in the 2022-23 season.

Only nine states currently use a shot clock at high school basketball games: California, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Washington.

While Texas isn’t one of them, the UIL follows NFHS guidelines when it comes to high school sports.

The UIL recently conducted a three-year trial that allowed schools to experiment using a shot clock for tournaments, but the UIL said that “the shot clock was not substantial enough to justify pursuing the matter further.”

However, the council did vote to continue allowing live broadcasts streamed on the internet of Friday night high school football games during the regular season.

The UIL allowed live streaming during the 2020-21 season to help during the COVID pandemic, in which games were only allowing limited attendance.