Area coaches weigh in on high school basketball changes

Jun. 12—After playing in arguably its biggest boys' basketball game in school history, the Tuscola boys' basketball team spent several hours at Jupiter's at the Crossing in southwest Champaign on the afternoon of March 9, 2023.

Hanging out. Playing arcade games. Eating food. Watching film of Bloomington Cornerstone.

That's right. A different vibe and preparation ensued once the Warriors lost 40-27 to Scales Mound in a Class 1A state semifinal game earlier on that Thursday afternoon.

Because once the Warriors lost the state semifinal game, they had to wait around Champaign to play a third-place game several hours later.

With Tuscola High School only 21 miles from State Farm Center in Champaign, the Warriors didn't have a hotel to head back to. One could argue they could have driven back to Tuscola, but they would have then just had to turn around and head back to Champaign to play Cornerstone in the 1A third-place game.

A game Tuscola ended up winning 69-46 in front of a few hundred fans. A far different cry from the environment the Warriors experienced earlier that day in the state semifinals.

"When we got back to State Farm Center, games were well behind schedule," Tuscola coach Justin Bozarth recalled on Tuesday. "We tipped about an hour later than scheduled, and then had to wait until the 2A third-place game concluded for the trophy presentation. That may have been the worst part was that took place at about 10:45 p.m. on Thursday and all of our fans, outside of our families, had returned home."

The third-place state tournament game the Warriors won with hardly a spectator inside 15,544-seat State Farm Center on the same day they also played a state semifinal happened without a shot clock in use.

Both scenarios won't happen in the coming years after the Illinois High School Association made two significant changes to the future of high school basketball on Tuesday.

Countdown to the shot clockA 35-second shot clock will come into play for all varsity boys' basketball and varsity girls' basketball games starting with the 2026-27 season, the IHSA announced on Tuesday.

The past two seasons, the IHSA has allowed schools to use 35-second shot clocks in shootout or tournament settings during the regular season when they choose to do so.

But this move will make it a permanent fixture of the game in two years.

"The overwhelming feedback we have received from coaches is that it is time to embrace the shot clock in all varsity (games)," IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson said. "We believe the two-season lead time will provide our schools with ample opportunity to install the shot clocks and get comfortable with them from both a coaching and game administration perspective."

The change will be mandated at the varsity level, with the use of the shot clock for lower-level games (like freshman, sophomore and junior varsity games) determined by conferences and via mutual agreement by teams in nonconference games.

Some area schools already have shot clocks in place. The St. Joseph-Ogden boys' basketball team has used a shot clock each of the last two seasons at its eight-team Toyota of Danville Classic held in late November and early December.

SJ-O Superintendent Brian Brooks said the district purchased NEVCO shot clocks in August 2022 at a cost of $4,151.

Other schools don't, though. Like Oscar Adams Gym at Urbana. Urbana athletic director Steve Waller said the school district will need to purchase shot clocks before the 2026-27 season arrives.

"I think we all knew that this was heading in that direction," SJ-O boys' basketball coach Kiel Duval said. "As far as it being a part of the game, I have no issue, and I don't think our team will, either. We usually try to play at a pace where our shots take place within that initial 35 seconds."

The Spartans averaged 64.1 points this past season en route to a 27-7 record in Duval's seventh season that included an outright Illini Prairie Conference regular-season title, a Class 2A regional title and a spot in the Sweet 16.

"We have already done stuff with the shot clock for the last two years, so I don't think our players will be bothered by it much. It will adjust the way we do things in practice at times, where coaches will have to incorporate time into offensive and defensive segments where we didn't in the past. For me, it's going to improve gameplay. I'm all for it."

Duval, like other area coaches who talked with The News-Gazette on Tuesday, also said challenges will come with the adoption of the shot clock.

Namely in getting workers to run the shot clock.

"It is already difficult finding clock people and stat people," Duval said. "This will be an added challenge."

Opposing the shot clockGary Tidwell has seen essentially everything high school basketball in Illinois can offer.

From pouring in a team-high 26 points for the Prairie Central boys' basketball team during its 83-78 double-overtime loss to Trenton Wesclin in the 1990 Class A state championship game at Assembly Hall in Champaign to coaching the Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin boys' basketball team to a 34-0 record during the 2019-20 season only to watch the Blue Devils fall one game shy of a state tournament berth — a berth that ultimately wouldn't have happened because of the COVID-19 pandemic — and experiencing success and failure as the coach at Danville and Schlarman.

But seeing a shot clock become a constant part of the game later this decade doesn't sit well with him.

"High school basketball was the purest game left," Tidwell said Tuesday. "It's sad to see the committee succumb to politics and pressure. A shot clock favors more athletic teams, which doesn't need an extra advantage."

Tidwell has guided BHRA to three Class 2A regional titles in his eight seasons with the Blue Devils. BHRA went 30-4 this past season, and Tidwell is 189-52 in charge of the Blue Devils. BHRA won an outright Vermilion Valley Conference regular-season title and a Vermilion County tournament title this season, averaging 63.9 points. The Blue Devils scored at least 60 points in 25 different games, but also opened its stay at the Vermilion County tournament with a low-scoring 44-25 victory against Salt Fork.

"The talent pool varies from year to year, and coaches have to adjust accordingly," Tidwell said. "Scores will be more lopsided, especially with small schools that don't have the benefit of recruiting and big-money donors."

On the girls' sideThe majority of area basketball teams who have played games the last two seasons with a shot clock in place are on the boys' side.

But girls' basketball teams will be included in this significant change in the fall of 2026.

"I'm excited to see the shot clock coming to high school basketball," said Drew Arteaga, the SJ-O girls' basketball coach who has led the Spartans to three straight Class 2A regional titles in his first three seasons coaching at his alma mater after he was previously the Westville boys' basketball coach. "I could see more girls' programs putting on more full-court pressure to try and slow teams down. I also could see more girls' teams going to zones to pack the paint and force more tough outside shots, especially if they have a longer team. Overall, I think it's going to create a fun and competitive environment, especially in late-game situations."

Watseka athletic director and girls' basketball coach Barry Bauer is in support of the shot clock.

"It does encourage more scoring," said Bauer, who coached the Watseka boys' basketball team for 11 seasons earlier this decade and has served as the Warriors' girls' basketball coach since 2014. "I do not think it will change how our team will play offensively, but I think we will change how we play defense some."

Not all area girls' basketball coaches share Arteaga and Bauer's optimism about the change.

Fisher coach Ken Ingold is among them.

"I am not in favor of a shot clock in high school basketball mainly because there is another person at the scorer's table who will have to run it," said Ingold, who has coached the Bunnies' girls' basketball program for 14 seasons since 2008 and was also Fisher's boys' basketball coach in the 1980s for five seasons. "A malfunction or operator error could be a problem, and it will be costly for districts to purchase and maintain."

Bauer said Watseka installed wiring for the shot clocks this spring at the Iroquois County school's gymnasium in order to "beat the rush in anticipation of a rule change."

LeRoy girls' basketball coach Chris Houser, who led the Panthers to a 1A regional title this past winter and has served as the head coach at the McLean County school since 2018, said he understands arguments from both sides on the shot clock debate. Why he opposes the move comes down to effectively managing the shot clock in games.

"High school basketball has its own unique rhythm, and introducing a shot clock could potentially disrupt the flow of the game," Houser said. "Another concern is that this change will place additional pressure on school districts, both financially due to the cost to purchase and install shot clocks in their facilities and in terms of staffing. Now, you are looking for two clock operators for each game instead of one that we currently need."

Joel Beesley, who has won a school-record 188 games as the Uni High boys' basketball coach and has coached the Illineks' girls' basketball team the past two seasons along with seeing three of his sons play basketball at Champaign Central, said he understands how the shot clock could improve the game at the bigger-school levels. But he is also skeptical of how the shot clock will affect smaller schools like Uni High in terms of the financial aspect, finding additional help to run the shot clock and how many more stoppages this will add to the game.

Plus, the added component of officials. Or lack thereof in Illinois.

"As youth sports continues to struggle with the officials shortage, it is yet another thing these officials have to deal with and keep track of," Beesley said. "The shortage of veteran officials means these younger officials who are learning will have another focus during gameplay to manage. With all that said, you can't implement this ruling to certain classifications or skill levels, so I think it ultimately, like everything else, will be figured out and help the game."

State tournament changesThe return of the IHSA boys' basketball state tournament to Champaign in 2022 also brought about a change in the format.

Gone were the two separate weekends of the 1A and 2A state tournament followed by the 3A and 4A state tournament the next weekend.

In was a three-day format involving all four classes, with 16 total games happening in that time span.

The IHSA will still have a three-day format — from Thursday through Saturday — for the state tournament with all four classes and 16 games, but made a slight tweak on Tuesday in adopting a new state tournament time schedule for both the boys' and girls' basketball state tournaments.

One that was met with resounding approval from area coaches.

"Getting the multiple day/night experience is a plus of the new update," Bozarth said. "I would still prefer more consideration given to the 1A start times. Playing in one of the biggest basketball games of the season shouldn't happen at 9:30 a.m. on a Thursday morning for a Final Four game. Then again, if we're playing in a Final Four game, we'll play it at 6 a.m. if that means we made it."

The new schedule will feature six games on Thursday, with 1A state semifinal games starting at 9:30 a.m., 2A state semifinal games starting at 2 p.m. and 3A state semifinal games tipping off at 6 p.m.

The past three seasons have had all state semifinal games and third-place games played on the same day, setting aside Saturday for just the four state championship games.

"We are finally moving in the direction to where they make this an experience for the kids," Duval said. "Having kids play two high-level games in one day is crazy considering all the work they put in to get to that point. They need to make state final appearances special for the players. This is a step in that direction."

On Friday, third-place games in 1A, 2A and 3A will take place in the morning and afternoon, with the games starting at 9:30 a.m. On Friday night, the two 4A state semifinal games will happen starting at 6 p.m.

"The entire appeal of making the state tournament is the experience," Tidwell said. "Elite teams have earned that opportunity to play another day without feeling the last game is meaningless due to the time of the game and a lack of fan support."

On Saturday, five games will now fill out the schedule with the 4A third-place game starting the day off at 9:30 a.m. Then, four state title games will take place in the afternoon and night, with the 1A state title game to tip at 1 p.m., followed by the 2A state championship game. The 3A state championship game will start at 6 p.m., followed by the 4A state championship game.

"Being from Indiana, where the state tournament rounds were on one day each weekend, it made it easy on the fans and hard on the players to compete at their highest levels," Beesley said. "I would say this new change is the best for the athlete's experience and ability to perform. Making the state tournament should be celebrated, no matter what place you get."

The only difference in the time schedule between the boys' and girls' basketball state tournament — the girls play a week earlier at CEFCU Arena in Normal on the Illinois State University campus — is on Friday.

The 4A state semifinal games will take place starting at 11:30 a.m., sandwiched in between the 1A third-place game at 9:30 a.m. and the 2A third-place games starting at 6 p.m., followed by the 3A third-place game. The IHSA said that is happening to allow 4A schools who might have their girls' basketball teams in the state tournament and their boys' basketball team playing in a sectional championship game that night to attend both.

"While I personally haven't been to the state tournament yet as a coach, when I talk to coaches and players that have been, they say their favorite memories are the ones made off the floor," Arteaga said. "It's the team bonding, the dinners and the time spent with their teammates that they cherish the most. Giving kids that experience back is such a good decision by the IHSA."