PIAA board tables vote to add shot clock to high school basketball

By: Chris Harlan
Wednesday, September 10, 2025 | 7:49 PM

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The PIAA hit the snooze button on the shot clock debate.

The board on Wednesday was expected to take a second step toward adding a shot clock to high school basketball for the 2028-29 season. Instead, the board tabled the vote until October to give its basketball steering committee time to meet.

The plan to adopt the 35-second shot clock must pass the PIAA board in three separate votes. The first was in July when the board voted 22-9 in favor. However, the board at the time also asked for more feedback from its basketball committee, but the committee hadn’t met in the weeks since.

So, without that feedback, the board decided Wednesday to pause before taking the second vote.

PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said the basketball committee likely will meet before the end of the month. The next board meeting is Oct. 8.

The shot clock debate has simmered for years, but this summer was the first time the PIAA board joined in.

At least 31 states and Washington, D.C., will use a shot clock in some capacity by the start of the 2026-27 season, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. The NFHS, which writes the rulebook used by the PIAA, gave states the option of adopting the clock starting with the 2022-23 season.

The PIAA had shown reluctance, but that changed when a survey in the spring found that 55% of basketball-playing schools statewide favored the shot clock.

The debate then turned largely to “when?”

Choosing a year to implement the clocks became a sticking point for the basketball committee, which met in June without reaching a consensus. Some members preferred to add the shot clocks a year earlier for the 2027-28 season. The PIAA board in July settled that question by choosing 2028-29, saying schools would need time to budget for equipment and train shot clock operators.

With the start date decided, the PIAA board in July requested additional input from the basketball committee on the overall idea. Without that feedback, the PIAA board decided Wednesday to wait another month.

If approved, the shot clocks will be added to boys and girls basketball for both varsity and junior varsity games. Junior high would not use a shot clock.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.