Oklahoma to add shot clocks for high school basketball in 2026-27

By Canadian Press on April 23, 2025.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma is the the latest in a growing number of states that will implement shot clocks for high school basketball.

The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA) board voted 11-3 on Wednesday in favor of implementing a 35-second shot clock for the classes with the largest schools — 6A, 5A, 4A and 3A — starting with the 2026-27 season.

The board also voted 10-4 to allow small-school classes to experiment with shot clocks, subject to approval by the national federation. Shot clocks will not be used for any round of the playoffs in Classes 2A, A and B. Surveys will continue to go to the smaller schools to see if they want to add them after that.

The National Federation of State High School Associations says more than 30 states and Washington, D.C., will use shot clocks in some capacity by the start of the 2026-27 season.

Oklahoma women’s basketball coach Jennie Baranczyk said a drawback of some states not having shot clocks has been that coaches have had to focus more on watching players from those states during summer ball to see how they handled time restrictions.

Oklahoma voted 8-7 against shot clocks in 2023. Weeks later, Weatherford defeated Anadarko 4-2 in a result that drew national scorn.

Some of the state tournament games in Oklahoma this year were slow paced, and stalling still happened on occasion. Lincoln Christian’s girls attempted just 14 shots in the second half of a Class 4A quarterfinal win over Madill. Locust Grove and Kingfisher attempted just 37 shots each in another quarterfinal.

The OSSAA said the smaller schools have not pushed as hard for it, but many Oklahoma coaches at larger schools had been clamoring for the move, saying its time had come.

“The game has elevated,” Oklahoma City Douglass girls coach Latesha Woods said after a Class 4A state tournament win. “And if you are playing in high school and your plan is to go to college, you’re going to have a shot clock (in college). So we need to really be training these kids to be able to play at the next level.”

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

The Associated Press

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