Heritage Academy boys basketball coach Jerry Miles doesn’t like shot clocks.
He’ll have to put up with them in a little less than 18 months. Miles railed Thursday against a Kentucky High School Athletic Association rule requiring clocks beginning with the 2027-28 season.
To Miles, installing a shot clock is as welcome as having a game-winning 3-pointer nullified by a traveling call.
“Well, for a small school that doesn’t have the great talent pool to pull from, the shot clock stinks because it forces you to run and gun more with teams that have far more talent,” he said. “(It) takes a lot of the strategy out of team play and turns you more into the NBA – get up the floor, set a pick, run some one-on-one.”
The more Miles opined, the spicier his comments became.
“You know, the state doesn’t do a whole lot to help the smaller schools,” he said. “They have the All “A” tournaments and all the other things, and then you got a school like us that has 50 or 60 kids in high school, and we compete.
“We work hard with the kids when they’re young, developing talent, but we don’t have a talent pool of a thousand kids to choose from.”
Last September, by a 13-5 vote the KHSAA approved a 35-second shot clock for varsity games beginning with the 2027-28 season. Teams may use the clock for the 2026-27 season for regular season, non-district and invitational tournament games, but not for district contests.
The implementation deadline would give schools time to purchase the necessary equipment and will align Kentucky with a majority of other states.
Scott athletic director Casey Fisk said his gym’s clocks have been installed. He hasn’t talked about using them next season with either boys coach Steve Fromeyer or girls coach Eric Pouncy.
“I’ll leave it up to the head coaches if they want to do it, that’s fine,” Fisk said. “We host a winter classic for the boys’ basketball team. It might be a good opportunity, but I haven’t talked to Steve or Eric about it.”
Installing shot clocks won’t be cheap. Notre Dame athletic director Janet Carl said a private donor paid nearly $6,000, and Miles said a local company is paying for Heritage’s clocks.
The KHSAA’s Board of Control conducted a survey during the 2024-25 school year. Three options were listed: wait for the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) to establish a national policy; wait until another survey can be conducted in 2027; or adopting shot clocks beginning next season, 2027-28 or 2028-29.
Statewide, 150 of 252 schools favored waiting for the NFHS (bit.ly/4eqXxK8).
In Northern Kentucky, Beechwood, Bellevue, Bishop Brossart, Boone County, Calvary Christian, Campbell County, Conner, Cooper, Covington Latin, Holmes, Holy Cross, Ludlow, Ryle, Scott, Simon Kenton and Villa Madonna wanted to wait for the NFHS.
Covington Catholic, Dayton, Dixie Heights, Newport, Newport Central Catholic, Notre Dame, St. Henry and Walton-Verona favored requiring shot clocks next season.
Lloyd Memorial voted for implementing in 2027. Heritage Academy did not complete a survey.