Tommy Brakel has wanted a shot clock in Texas high school basketball for about 15 years. On Monday he got one, with a wait attached.
Meeting Sunday and Monday in Austin, the University Interscholastic League's rule-making body voted to add a 35-second shot clock to varsity boys and girls basketball. Classes 6A and 5A would be required to use it starting in 2028-29 at the earliest, with 4A and 3A following no sooner than 2030-31 and 2A and 1A no sooner than 2032-33.
The league plans to review each phase and left itself room to adjust the timeline. Commissioner of Education Mike Morath still has to sign off on the rule, as he does with every change the council passes.
"[The shot clock] is something that we've needed for a very long time," Brakel, whose North Crowley team won last season's Class 6A Division I state title, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "It's going to make the game so much better."
Two finalists agree
North Crowley finished 35-3 and beat San Antonio Brennan 65-52 in the championship game, according to Crowley ISD and the UIL. Brennan's coach, Koty Cowgill, landed on the same side of the issue as the man who beat him in March.
"It's gonna be something that when it inevitably happens, we'll probably look back and wonder why it took so long to do it," Cowgill told the San Antonio Express-News.
Brakel pushed back on the idea that a clock simply speeds games up. He told the Star-Telegram it would "regulate tempo" and improve officiating, players' decision-making and coaching. He said he expects about 90% of coaches at the higher classifications to agree to use one, and that North Crowley would use it whenever it can.
They will have chances. Varsity teams in every conference may already use a clock at showcases and invitational tournaments if both coaches agree, and that option extends to non-district games in 2027-28. Once the requirement begins, it covers every varsity game, preseason through playoffs.
Junior varsity and freshman teams may use one in non-district games and tournaments, or in district games if the district executive committee approves, the Express-News reported. The UIL is not recommending a clock for middle school play.
Who pays
The cost falls on school districts: the clocks, their installation and someone to run them. Houston Lamar coach Jerry VanDeusen said a home game would need one adult on the clock and another keeping the scorebook. Two clocks for a single gym cost about $4,500 on average, not counting wiring and labor, San Angelo LIVE reported.
That expense drew objections from smaller schools. A Class 1A representative raised concerns at the meeting about operating the clocks and paying for them, according to the Star-Telegram, and the committee responded that it could revisit the plan for the lower classes each year before their deadlines arrive.
