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KEAUHOU, Hawaii — Prep basketball in the state of Hawaii is now on the clock. 

On the final day of the 61st Annual Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association Conference at the Outrigger Keauhou Resort and Spa, athletic administrators from across the state voted in favor of the adoption of a 35-second shot clock for all state tournament basketball games beginning in the 2023-2024 school year. 

The group's approval came as a bit of a surprise after the measure had been defeated in a committee vote on Wednesday. At Thursday's final general assembly, however, a minority report was submitted by the Interscholastic League of Honolulu to bring the discussion to the floor, before all 91 voting members/schools. 

Iolani co-athletic director Maurice Maggiolino brought the minority report to the table and at the same time, pointed out that Idaho's state association had just approved an identical measure. 

"We just wanted to have the discussion as a group because our entire athletic director group here talked about it a lot and we've had some really good conversations and I just wanted to have the opportunity we have to discuss it as a group on the floor," Maggiolino said. 

The National Federation of High Schools in May of 2021 allowed for the adoption of shot clocks by high school state associations. It did not, however, mandate it as a requirement. 

In Wednesday's committee vote, the proposal was shot down by a count of 16 votes for to 20 against, which left Maggiolino with some optimism for Thursday's minority report. However, he admitted that even he was surprised that it carried out of HIADA. 

"I was not really sure where it would go. I thought it would be really close potentially, as far as the vote goes," he said. 

Roosevelt athletic director John Chung argued on behalf of the Oahu Interscholastic Association — which voted against the measure — that the detriments of a mandated shot clock could outweigh the benefits for most teams. 

"We knew it got passed at the national level, but we had an option whether or not to use it and we just felt that it could take away a strategy that could be used down the stretch, especially if you don't have the physical size and the — not better players — but you don't have year-round basketball players," said Chung, a former boys basketball coach. 

"The kids that play for us, we got whoever comes out and I think if you really look at it, even in the state tournament there are teams that employ that strategy in the fourth quarter, so for us, it was just taking away a strategy that could be used that could level the playing field a little bit more," he added. 

Former Punahou and University of Hawaii basketball standout Shawna-Lei Kuehu, who is now a teacher at Ke Kula O Ehunuikaimalino Hawaiian immersion school in Kealakekua and coaches girls basketball at nearby-Kealakehe, provided a counterargument to Chung. 

"The strategy now is put onto the coaches, the skill is put onto the coaches to be able to support our kids in playing with a shot clock. It increases the speed of the game, it increases the entertainment of the game, but at the end of the day it just enhances the game so that our kids can meet at the same platform as the rest of the country," Kuehu said. 

One administrator brought to the attention of the voting body that only eight states are currently utilizing shot clocks in prep basketball. 

"We know that, but I think the state of Hawaii and our basketball programs have not been where they need to be," said Kuehu, a former state player of the year for the Buffanblu. 

She added, "I've been 10 years out of high school and we still don't have a shot clock, so to be a part of this and to speak on my own experiences on it and to get eyes open and be willing to take a step forward is great."

Both boys and girls state basketball tournaments will utilize a shot clock. Each of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association's five leagues may individually choose to adopt the use of a shot clock for regular-season play, but will not be required to. 

"And they don't have to jump in with two feet at one time. It can be slow moving, but again, it only enhances the game and I just took from my own experiences and it's something that is close to me because this is my sport and I only think that it's going to be better for our game, for our kids and I talked about us as educators because we always want to raise the bar and we want our kids to meet us there and it takes one step at a time," Kuehu expressed. 

Chung, however, drew from his own personal coaching experience to offer another perspective. 

"We got the point that it would make for more excitement, but at our high school level I don't know if it's going to increase attendance that much or what not. Would it make it a lot more exciting? It depends. If you got guys that can't shoot the ball, nobody wants to see shots go up and not go in, but like I said, we knew it would pass at the national level and we're just looking at it as we don't want a strategy to be taken away from us that a lot of schools use, good schools," he said. 

Chung recalled coaching his Roosevelt team against a superior University Lab School team many years ago. The Rough Riders held the ball for much of the game and eventually lost by four points, he said. 

"The example that I gave from way back was physically we were outmatched and the other team was playing a zone. We wanted them to come out and play us man-to-man, (but) now we lose that strategy," Chung said. 

The one-plus year of lead time before the introduction of the shot clock will allow for schools to research and account for the costs of installation and maintenance, but the time to make the "uncomfortable push" was now, Kuehu implored to the voting body. 

"I know a lot of the concerns were about the cost of everything, but my argument for that was that the cost is never going to decrease, right? It's always going to increase as time goes on," she said. 

Maggiolino is exuberant about the prospect of a faster pace of basketball in a few years. 

"Yeah, the opportunity to play with a shot clock will be exciting for the student-athletes, the coaches, our schools, anybody watching the games, yeah, it'll be really exciting for them," he said. 

The shot clock proposal was one of 24 measure that were passed by the athletic directors Thursday. Other proposals that gained HIADA approval are a change to the format of the state cheerleading meet from medium and large division to all-girls and co-ed divisions and the allowance of a player to pitch on three consecutive days, given that he or she not exceed 35 pitches on either of the first two days and 60 total pitches after three days in the state baseball tournament.

A total of four minority reports were submitted Thursday and all but one of them passed. Another that did pass was in regards to tournament representation. It states that each league must declare at least one team in a division to have a state representative in that division, which is already the case in all team sports with the exception of football. The passage of this measure will eliminate that exception and put all of the HHSAA's sports under the same requirements. Had the measure been in place for last school year, PAC-5 would have been eligible to represent the ILH in the Division II state football tournament. 

By virtue of the other minority report that passed, in the sport of wrestling, athletes will no longer be able to use the two-pound growth allowance to certify for a weight class for the state tournament. 

The only minority report that did not carry was one brought to the floor by the Maui Interscholastic League and sought to include the MIL in the rotation for the boys and girls state soccer tournament. It was denied by a vote of 30 to 61. 

That measure was one of only two that did not gain HIADA approval Thursday; the other was seeking to allow for the seeding of any league champion in their respective state tournament, regardless of how many participating schools their league has.

All 24 of the proposals that passed out of HIADA were forwarded to the HHSAA Executive Board, which put its stamp of approval on all of them when it met Thursday afternoon.