Is New Mexico close to adding a shot clock? No. But should it be?

To shot clock or not to shot clock?

That is today’s question, and we can thank the state of Delaware for rejuvenating the conversation.

Delaware’s recent decision to adopt a high school basketball shot clock — starting with the 2027-28 school year — reduces by one the number of states who remain on the other side of this topic. There are fewer than 20 states that don’t have a shot clock. In fact, the number is down to 17 now.

Pennsylvania has approved a 35-second shot clock starting in 2028-29, joining Delaware, with other states doing trial runs.

Several states are using it in regular season games only; or are using it exclusively at the upper levels, like Kentucky for varsity games only starting in the fall of 2027. Alaska implemented a shot clock for 4A basketball, its highest division.

It is obvious that a shot clock can operate as a supremely flexible entity with multiple fits, depending on a state’s wants and needs.

Which brings us to the 47th state in the union.

Look, I’m old school — if you know me, this won’t come as a surprise — and I prefer New Mexico high school basketball without a shot clock. I don’t see hardly any games that get me talking to myself about us urgently needing one. On Thursday night at Sandia, for the first time all season, I watched a team (Sandia's girls) play for a final shot in a quarter while there was still a full minute on the clock. This did not go over well with everyone on La Cueva’s bench, it should be noted.

The New Mexico Activities Association for several years (2022-24) charted times of possessions at the second week of the state tournament at the Pit. The result? Roughly 2.5% of all the possessions would have been impacted had there been a shot clock. That’s not necessarily compelling evidence that a shot clock should be added here, but remember, the second week of state is when all of the state’s best teams are remaining, and these are mostly high functioning programs that wouldn’t require a shot clock, anyway.

It is, generally speaking, the lesser programs, the struggling ones, the ones that have very few players, the smallest of New Mexico’s schools — and there are dozens of schools that fit this description — that probably don’t require a shot clock. Alaska’s format could be a viable one in New Mexico, to that end.

Hobbs girls coach Joe Carpenter said teams in his district are often trying to pump the Eagles’ brakes by slowing them down dramatically with long possessions and efforts to shorten the game and keep the score lower. For you nostalgia buffs, there is the incredibly infamous 1993 girls big-school state final between Don Flanagan’s dynamic and undefeated Eldorado Eagles, and Albuquerque High.

This is in the discussion for the strangest prep basketball championship game in the history of the state (maybe any sport), and that’s no hyperbole. AHS almost literally put the ball on its hip for the first three quarters — as in, standing near the midcourt line with the ball on a player’s hip for minutes at a time — while the other nine players stood around doing practically nothing.

AHS coach Gregg Papp’s logic, as he explained it later: my girls could not compete with Eldorado for 32 minutes. But maybe, just maybe, he said, we could outplay them for ONE quarter. I just wanted to give my girls the best chance at a state title, was his reasoning, which sounded perfectly logical at the time.

The final?

Eldorado 23, Albuquerque High 5. Trust me, that game was just as weird as you can imagine it was. But with no shot clock, a coach attempted to manipulate the system to his advantage, and this is something anti-shot clockers preach, that it opens the door for lesser teams to employ unorthodox methods to win a basketball game. There is truth in this also.

With all this said, there is no denying that the state’s basketball product may very well be enhanced down the road by bringing a shot clock into the fold in some form or another.

Coaches love the idea of a shot clock and many think it is long overdue. To assist with the development of players for the college level, for starters.

“We have to prepare for a future where more New Mexico kids have that shot (at college),” Bosque School boys coach Clifton Davidson said.

A shot clock would bring about more energy, many coaches say.

“It rewards effort, skill and pace — not stalling,” Albuquerque High girls coach Teri Morrison said.

End of quarter scenarios and strategies are frequently-cited points of interest, as a shot clock would likely create fourth quarters with more excitement and drama.

“It would help player development from a mental point of view in a drastic way,” Rio Rancho boys coach Steve Heredia said.

“I think New Mexico needs to move to the shot clock,” Kirtland Central girls coach Devon Manning offered. “I’ve played with shot clocks in games in Arizona and it was fun. Makes teams and coaches have to re-imagine their strategy at the end of games.”

The idea of someday adding a shot clock for the upper classes is appealing, from this chair. Add it for 5A and 4A. Maybe 3A, too? Let the smaller schools continue on as always.

Of course, there are financial considerations in this equation as well. To install permanent shot clocks at every one of New Mexico’s 160 or so member schools would perhaps be a monetary burden for many of the smaller schools (thousands of dollards) who already exist in a poor state like ours. Every school with a shot clock would have to train and pay for additional personnel to work home games. Officials’ training would have to be expanded to deal with the on-floor shot clock requirements.

For now, New Mexico remains in the minority, and will not be immediately moving in the shot clock direction.

We shall see if this lasts.

James Yodice covers prep sports for the Journal. You can reach him at jyodice@abqjournal.com or via X at @JamesDYodice.