Shot clocks or no shot clocks?
The PIAA is tabulating results from its recent survey of schools and officials to gauge their interest in adding the timing devices to high school basketball games. But the survey alone won’t decide whether Pennsylvania ultimately adds the clocks, PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said Friday.
“We need a good litmus test on what exactly is out there and how people feel,” he said.
Lombardi said the survey will be a source of information for members of the basketball steering committee, not a decisive vote on the hotly debated issue. A similar survey in 2022 found shot clock proponents and opponents were evenly split.
“Part of the thing with statistics is, it’s also meaningful to have rationale with those (numbers),” Lombardi said. “That’s where the steering committee can come in. We can take that (survey) back to them, and those individuals can voice their concern in discussions around the table.”
The committee can make a recommendation. The PIAA board has the final say. If the board decided to approve the shot clocks, they wouldn’t be added to games until the 2026-27 season at the earliest, Lombardi said.
“Let’s see where it goes,” he said. “I’m interested to see how it comes out.”
PIAA championship sites
State champions in team wrestling and competitive spirit will be crowned in Johnstown for the next three years.
The PIAA selected 1st Summit Arena at Cambria County War Memorial to host the championships in the 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years. Championship venues for other winter sports were announced last spring.
Lombardi said Johnstown was chosen over bids from Penn State Rec Hall to host team wrestling and from Erie Insurance Arena for spirit. He cited presentations submitted by the Johnstown venue as a deciding factor.
The PIAA team wrestling championships were held in Altoona this past season. Santander Arena in Reading held the spirit championships. Both were held previously in Hershey, but Lombardi has said Giant Center no longer wanted to host those events.
Giant Center will continue to host the state basketball and individual wrestling championships through the 2027-28 season, and Bucknell remains host for swimming and diving.
Transgender track athlete
The PIAA will let a transgender girl compete in the state track and field championships next week if the Eastern Pennsylvania student qualifies.
The state association for high school athletics changed its policy in February to classify students by “sex” rather than “gender” in compliance with a Trump administration order banning transgender athletes from girls sports. However, Lombardi said the PIAA will instead comply with a federal judge’s order allowing a Plymouth Whitemarsh sprinter to participate as a girl.
“We are in active litigation, so I’m limited in what I can tell you,” Lombardi said. “(U.S. District) Judge (Wendy) Beetlestone on March 4 denied a temporary restraining order to deny that young person from continuing to compete. So that student by court order is allowed to compete. We will not violate the court order.”
The PIAA championships are May 23-24 at Shippensburg.
Ticket policy approved
The PIAA still wants fans to purchase postseason tickets online but will provide assistance for those having issues with electronic ticketing, according to a formal ticket policy adopted Wednesday.
The PIAA has used electronic ticketing since 2020.
Lombardi noted that many championship sites such as Giant Center won’t accept cash at the gate. But the newly adopted policy says the PIAA will help customers “who may have challenges with electronic ticketing by offering a support person and alternate forms of entry which may include the use of credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and cash.”
Cash payments must be exact amounts, according to the policy.
“There was a feeling that we didn’t have a (written) policy of what we’re doing presently in our policies and procedures,” Lombardi said. “So, we codified what we’re doing.”