KHSAA to adopt 35 second shot clock in 2027-28 season
(9-17-25) The Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) schools will implement a 35-second shot clock for varsity boys’ and girls’ basketball beginning with the 2027-28 season. The KHSAA Board of Control approved the measure in a 13-5 vote today, after the board had delayed the decision earlier in the year despite a survey indicating that a majority of member schools were against adopting a shot clock. The implementation will give schools time to purchase the necessary equipment and will align Kentucky with a majority of other states that have already adopted the rule.
Damon Kelley, Paul Laurence Dunbar’s athletic director, who is a former basketball coach and the KHSAA board’s president-elect-
“It’s about moving the game forward, and I just think it’s what’s best for the game.”
The KHSAA’s most recent triennial survey results on the issue that showed that 150 of the 252 responding schools did not favor it unless it was required nationally by the National Federation of High School Associations.
The cost of putting up shot clocks was informally estimated to be about $5,500 per school and, perhaps, about $3,000 per season to man
35 states currently use the shot clock in some capacity this past school year
Will neighboring state Ohio soon approve the shot clock?
OHSAA media relations director Tim Stried
“The OHSAA continues to monitor the start of the shot clock in high school basketball which we have done for a number of years. We now have permitted two in-season tournaments in conjunction with the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association in which the shot clock is utilized. And we continue to get feedback from those events.”
Stateline Sports Network 