Todd Hubler
Everybody’s entitled to a change of heart, I guess — even the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
The WIAA’s Board of Control essentially said, “Um, never mind,” when it voted 7-3 on Dec. 1 to abandon the decision it made in June (by a 6-4 vote) to implement a 35-second shot clock in boys’ and girls’ high school basketball. The change would have taken effect during the 2019-20 season and made Wisconsin only the ninth state to break rank with the National Federation of State High School Associations on this issue.
“If we were to go ahead and leave the shot clock as it is right now and cram this down our membership’s throats, I personally feel that as a board we’d lose all credibility with our membership,” Board of Control member William Yingst Sr., from the Durand-Arkansaw School District, said during the deliberation process.
That might be so, but as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted, the state association was pretty much in a no-win situation already. “Would rescinding the vote set a precedent the next time the board makes an unpopular decision?” asked reporter Mark Stewart. “Should it listen to coach[es] and players, who voiced more support for the shot clock, or athletic directors and administrators, who were staunchly against it?”
Most of those who opposed a shot clock claimed it was an unnecessary addition at the prep level and cited potential costs associated with updating scoreboards or purchasing clocks, as well as paying people to operate them.
I, on the other hand, supported the implementation of a shot clock, mostly because of my aversion to stall tactics — especially after a Wisconsin team won a playoff game by scoring less than 15 points and holding onto the ball most of the time.
Lora Staveness, who coached the Madison Edgewood girls to the WIAA Division 3 state title last March, was a vocal proponent of the shot clock. “I think it will be a good thing,” she told the Wisconsin State Journal last summer after the WIAA gave its initial thumbs up. “I know change is hard, but I think it will grow our game. It will bring a premium to not just coaching up your best players but all your players. I … think it’s going to be fun, though initially it won’t be pretty at all games.”
Now, we may never know.
