CINCINNATI — The Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association discussed topics, including the shot clock, with the Ohio High School Athletic Association this month.
The girls and boys basketball state tournaments concluded in Dayton and the surrounding areas earlier this month.
“There has been no formal proposal presented to the OHSAA Board of Directors,” OHSBCA Executive Director Joe Balogh wrote in an email the afternoon of March 28. “We have just had several discussions with the basketball administrators for the possible implementation of the shot clock for Ohio high school basketball.”
Several members of the OHSBCA executive board met with OHSAA Executive Director Doug Ute and the basketball administrators in January. Balogh said there was discussion about forming a proposal regarding the shot clock.
For the past two years, the OHSBCA has hosted events that have experimented with the use of the shot clock.
In December 2024, the OHSBCA hosted an event in Canton over three days where girls and boys teams competed using the shot clock. They then had a two-day shot clock event in Canton again, one year later.
Three events had to apply for and get approval for the use of the shot clock in January.
Those events included The Classic in the Country at Berlin Hiland, The Battle of the 614 at Ohio Dominican and the MLK Classic at Fort Loramie.
“For the 2026 - 2027 season, we again are expanding our shot clock events to any multiple-team events,” Balogh said. “Again, those events will need to apply and be approved by our association along with the OHSAA. It is our hope that through these events that we will have the opportunity to present a formal proposal in the near future.”
Balogh said the OHSBCA proposal does include the optional use of the shot clock for the 2027 - 2028 season and then full implementation in the 2028 - 2029 season for both the regular season and postseason competition.
The next OHSAA Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for April 23.
Balogh said shot clock usage will follow National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Rule 2-14, which permits each state association to adopt a shot clock system (beginning in the 2022-23 season) in accordance with the guidelines outlined in the NFHS Basketball Rules Book.
The NFHS said 32 state associations (31 states plus Washington, D.C.) used the shot clock this past season.
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association Board of Control voted in September 2025 to adopt a 35-second shot clock for varsity boys and girls basketball teams starting in the 2027-28 season.
