By Langston Wertz Jr.
Could N.C. high school basketball finally be getting a shot clock?
A proposal from the N.C. Basketball Coaches Association that would add a shot clock in some games is on the agenda to be discussed at next week’s meeting of the NCHSAA Board of Directors in Chapel Hill. The recommendation is that the proposal go into effect for the 2025-26 school year.
The shot clock proposal would not mean adoption for all schools, if passed, however.
Instead it recommends the use of the clock in preseason scrimmages, regular-season invitationals and special event games. The clock would be used, under the proposal, only if the host school can provide the clock and both teams agree to use it.
The basketball coaches association believes that the shot clock will eventually be adopted and teams collecting data from games that use the clock next season could be beneficial.
Currently, 31 states nationwide are using or have plans to use a shot clock, including Oklahoma, which approved the addition of a clock this week.
Oklahoma will start using the clock in the 2026-27 season.
Phenom Hoops, which runs high school travel basketball events in the Carolinas, is currently using a shot clock for games it hosts in Rock Hill.
Other items expected to be discussed during the Board of Directors meeting Monday and Tuesday:
▪ Discussion of a request from the N.C. School Board Association about having a separate playoff bracket for parochial and charter schools.
Currently there are 61 charter and parochial schools in the NCHSAA. Separating them would create a near-equal size grouping as many of the eight classes in the NCHSAA. But some of the parochial schools, like Charlotte Catholic and Raleigh’s Cardinal Gibbons, are much larger than most other charters.
The NCHSAA has reported that charter schools make up 40% of the 1A class and have won 30% of recent championships in that classification.
▪ The NCHSAA is expected to give some insight into how teams will qualify for the playoffs.
▪ A review of playoff ticket prices, which are set by the state and have not been revised in eight years. Some schools say they are losing money because playoff ticket prices are lower than regular-season prices. There is also a proposal for the association to accept cash at playoff events for entry in addition to digital ticket entry.
▪ There are two proposals to adjust the mercy rule in football and basketball. In football, the proposal would allow a running clock when a team was ahead by 35 points, down from the current 42. In basketball, the mercy rule would go into effect when the lead was 30 points, instead of 40.
▪ West Stanly High School is proposing to expand baseball and softball season by three weeks. The proposal would add two weeks to the calendar in February and another at the end of the season. Currently baseball and softball have nine weeks to play 24 games, compared with 13 weeks to play 24 games for basketball.
Langston Wertz Jr. is an award-winning sports journalist who has worked at the Observer since 1988. He’s covered everything from Final Fours and NFL to video games and Britney Spears. Wertz -- a West Charlotte High and UNC grad -- is the rare person who can answer “Charlotte,” when you ask, “What city are you from.” Support my work with a digital subscription
