NJSIAA to Vote on Implementing a Shot Clock for Basketball and Lacrosse in May

The NJSIAA will vote on proposals to implement a shot clock in basketball and lacrosse in May after the proposal passed first reading at the January NJSIAA Executive Committee meeting, as first reported by Varsity Aces earlier this afternoon. Should the full membership vote pass, the proposal would then have to pass final reading from the NJSIAA Executive Committee before the shot clocks could be implemented for the 2027-2028 school year.

The proposal for the basketball shot clock would be 35 seconds, notably five seconds longer than the 30 second shot clock currently used at the college level. Schools would be required to use it at the varsity level in both boys and girls basketball. The option to use the shot clock at the sub-varsity levels would exist, but it would be at the discretion of each individual school.

The proposal for the lacrosse shot clock would be 80 seconds. Similar to the basketball proposal, schools would be required to use it at the varsity level in both boys and girls, but it would be up to the schools if they want to use it at the sub-varsity level.

In recent years, advocates for the shot clock have pointed to the fact that 32 states have already adopted the usage of a basketball shot clock and that New Jersey was putting their athletes at a disadvantage in their development by not using one. Spectators have long complained over the stall-ball tactics that some teams have used over the years to slow down the game.

One of the hold-ups has been the costs involved for the schools that would need to budget to install the shot clock as well as train and pay someone to operate it every game.

The language within the proposals will be fine tuned and modified before the vote in May.