Alabama High School Athletic Association basketball coaches contacted by AL.com on Thursday said they don’t expect too much to change after the approval of the use of a shot clock by the AHSAA Central Board of Control at Wednesday’s meeting.

The Board gave member schools the option of using a shot clock – National Federation of State School Associations rules mandate shot clocks set at 35 seconds – in non-area games if both coaches agree.

Huntsville High School coach Christian Schweers has been a strong advocate for using a clock.

“This is a huge step in the right direction,” he said. “It absolutely will further the game of basketball in the state of Alabama. The first year, there will be some waffling back-and-forth since it’s not a set deal that you’ll have it every game. Based on responses that coaches have given through [Alabama Association of Basketball Coaches] voting, we’ll probably have more games with a shot clock than not.

“Eventually, in a year or two, I hope to see the playoffs played with a shot clock.”

Schweers advocated for a clock as far back as 2021 when he spoke with AL.com after the NFHS voted to allow a clock beginning with the 2022-23 season.

“Every level in the world plays with a shot clock,” Schweers said. “Our state hasn’t been, although there are 26 others that do. We’ve been falling behind, in my opinion, in the game of basketball. Kids who are going to play in college at any level were not prepared adequately. It’s a different type of game and they were not ready for that. I’ve talked to several guys who have played in college and they said it took their whole freshman season to adjust to the shot clock.”

Many Alabama teams that play in other states have had experience with a shot clock. Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame member Jack Doss, whose first season as a head coach was in 1980-81, led his Grissom squad to an 18-14 finish this season. The Tigers lost 38-31 to Huntsville in the Northeast Regional championship. Grissom finished 26 games with fewer than 60 points – winning 13 of them. He said teams will adjust quickly to a shot clock.

He illustrated his first experience with a tale of a game from 2017. “Nike called and asked if I wanted to take a team to Connecticut and play,” he said. “It was a great trip. They flew us up and took us to the [Naismith Memorial] Basketball Hall of Fame … and they told me they’d let me know who we would play. It ended up being St. Anthony’s – Bob Hurley’s team from New Jersey. They were ranked No. 8 in the nation.

“They get the tip and we hold them, I call a play and it doesn’t work out, so I called for another play and then the horn goes off. The official ran over and took the ball from our guy and hands it to a St. Anthony player out of bounds,” Doss said. “I put my arm around the official’s shoulders and said, ‘What was that?’ He said, ‘Shot clock violation.’ I said, ‘We don’t play with a shot clock.’ He said, ‘We do up here.’

“Well, we didn’t have another violation the rest of the game and St. Anthony’s ended up with two.

“It doesn’t matter to me if we have a clock. It matters at the end of the game when you have to shoot it,” Doss said. “You can still use it to your advantage by holding the ball for 20 or 30 seconds before you run a play. Whatever the rules are, let’s go.”

Carla Berry, whose McGill-Toolen Yellow Jackets finished 19-6 with a loss in the Class 6A sub-regional, said she was wary of a clock turning some games into a runaway.

“My biggest concern is in girls high school basketball there is a lot of disparity between good teams and teams not quite there yet,” said Berry, who has coached McGill for 13 years. “If I have to score every 30 seconds or so against a team that is not the same caliber, that margin will be greater and I’m not a fan of that. I don’t think that helps the game.

“The idea is that it will enhance the game and I think it will, but maybe only when you’re in a competitive setting. Where there is a gap, I think it will widen the gap. It doesn’t help the game when you beat a team by 100 points.”

Berry said she was neutral in the debate over bringing a shot clock into AHSAA basketball. “I’m not against it,” she said. “Sometimes we practice where we give the girls a certain amount of time to score, so I’m not opposed to it. There will be some growing pains and anybody who thinks it will immediately enhance girls basketball hasn’t considered all the factors.”

The cost of buying shot clocks, the console needed to control them and LED lighting for backboards has been cited as a drawback to using them in the high school game.

Schweers said he had priced systems today and that they can be purchased for around $2,000. He said the Alabama Association of Basketball Coaches has had discussions with manufacturers and retailers about a possible partnership where a bulk purchase agreement could ease the cost.

Berry said schools like McGill-Toolen shouldn’t have a problem handling the cost. “We’re in a position where we can raise the funds,” she said. “Not everybody is in the same position financially. As spending is going up, some budgets are being cut. I think it might be a burden for some.

“We’ll go ahead and implement it and start using it in the summer,” Berry said. “It’s coming, so we might as well be prepared.”

Patrick Harding, who has led Buckhorn to back-to-back Class 6A state titles, said he expects most of his non-area opponents will want to use the clock. “A large percentage of coaches supported having a shot clock,” he said. “I think a large portion of the teams we play in the preseason – 6A and 7A schools – will want to use it. I think the shot clock is going to cause the pace of getting the ball up the court to quicken and it will be a better product for our fans. I don’t think you’ll see a real difference in the pace of play. It’s a more interesting game when the team trailing is guaranteed more possessions.”

Tim Miller, who has led Hazel Green’s girls to seven consecutive 6A state championships, doesn’t expect the players to face too much of an adjustment. “The kids are already kind of used to it because of AAU play,” he said. “Every tournament we went to last year outside the state had a clock – to Arizona and Washington, D.C., and Georgia – and it never came into play.

“I do think the officials and the shot-clock operators need to get adjusted. I think this is coming in the next year or two to all of our games.

“I’m in favor of a shot clock,” Miller said “Coaches and players will get adjusted to it pretty quick. We all get adjusted to rule changes and do what we get told to do. We adapt and adjust. Like this year with the five fouls per quarter [and the elimination of one-and-one free throws]. We had to get adjusted to that.”

Schweers said coaches and players adjust quickly to change.

“In football, they went to a play clock and everybody figured out how to get a clock in there and get it paid for,” he said. “I feel that will be the way it is in basketball.

“For a program like us that likes to play fast and tries to have a lot of possessions per game, it’s not a huge deal on the offensive end,” Schweers said. “Where it could be beneficial is to dictate the game defensively. Teams may want to do a zone press to eat up the clock before the other team can get it across.”