The University Interscholastic League (UIL) announced it will adopt a 35-second shot clock for girls and boys varsity basketball no earlier than the 2028-2029 season.
Texas will become the 36th state to implement the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) shot clock for high school basketball, with 6A and 5A starting no earlier than 2028-29; 4A and 3A no earlier than 203031; and 2A and 1A no earlier than 2032-33.
Ropes’ Boys Basketball Head Coach Cameron Copley, who won the District 5-2A championship with an 11-1 district record in 2025-26, said he thinks the shot clock is beneficial to basketball in Texas.
“I think it’s great for basketball,” Copley said. “I think it’s going to advance our younger kids; they’ve done it in Europe for a long time, and most states are already doing it at the high school level.”
At level 2A, Copley is concerned about the logistics of how this will work, including adding an extra responsibility to game-day operations.
“For smaller districts - 2A, 1A schools - it’s going to be difficult for some of those schools to execute the shot clock,” Copley said. “We have a hard enough time getting people to do our normal clock and keep book at home games. Then now this is a totally another addition on top of that.”
Since the first UIL championship in 1921, coaches in the state of Texas have had a lot of flexibility in running offense for long periods of time with no consequences for shot-clock violations. Inserting the 35-second shot clock adds more situational tactics to the game, Copley believes.
“Not have to foul maybe if you’re down three with 40 seconds left. You got 35 seconds to get a stop, “ Copley said. “The working twofor- ones and scenarios like that at the end of quarters, end of the half, end of the game situations.”
Head Coach for the Levelland Boys Basketball Team, Kendall Durrett, who competes at the 4A level, was “excited” to hear the news about the shot clock as he adjusted his offense a few years ago, anticipating the shot clock being inserted at some point soon.
“We kind of got ahead of the ball and started implementing some things offensively because I knew it was going to be a day where it was going to come,” Durrett said. “I’m excited we’re catching up with the times.” Understanding concerns about smaller schools having trouble executing the shot clock due to resources, Durrett doesn’t see that issue for his school due to the community support.
“Here at Levelland, we got amazing people. We got people volunteering left and right trying to find ways to help the program,” Durrett said. “So, I don’t see that being a problem here in Levelland at all.”
Once the shot clock is applied starting in the 2028-2029 season, Durrett said it’s going to be a “learning process for everybody,” as coaches, referees, and clock operators would all be getting adjusted.
Whiteface ball carrier skirts around Seagraves defenseive player.