Change is coming to high school basketball in the state of Kentucky.
In a 13-5 vote on Wednesday, the KHSAA Board of Control will add a 35-second shot clock in high school girls' and boys' basketball, beginning with the 2027-28 season. A motion to add the shot clock in 2026-27 was defeated, while the second option was approved by the KHSAA.
George Rogers Clark High School boys basketball coach Josh Cook, who led the Cardinals to a state championship in 2022, is happy the KHSAA adopted the measure.
"I personally like it,” he said.
Cook and the Cardinals have played with a shot clock in the past, which gave the GRC coach a chance to compete with shot-clock.
"We played with it at the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach," he said. "It was a great experience."
Kentucky is one of a few states that have yet to approve a shot clock in boys and girls basketball and will become the 33rd state to add a shot clock into game competition.
Former Lafayette boys basketball coach and board member, President-Elect Damon Kelley, introduced the measure after an August survey revealed that nearly 60 percent of schools in the state voted to allow the KHSAA to experiment with the shot clock until the national governing body — The National Federation of State High School Associations) — approved the use of a shot clock nationally.
In the survey, 30 percent of schools in the state were against adding a shot clock, while 10 percent wanted to begin using a shot clock within the next three years.
