Moments in time: The 1958 shot clock experiment

The Georgia High School Association went to go full-time to shot clocks in 2022-23 after a few years of experimentation and optional use for all teams in 2021-22.

The shot clocks were approved by a GHSA vote in the summer of 2020. Shot clocks in high school use the NCAA standard of 35 seconds.

Their usage seems new compared to the overall history of basketball. The NCAA did not implement a shot clock for all of its teams until 1985-86.

With that in mind, it may come as a shock that the initial GHSA shot clock games were played all the way back in 1958, decades before the league even began considering using them further.

The games were an experiment, held across three Christmas tournaments in December 1958.

The tournaments were played in Avondale on Dec. 19-20, Statesboro on Dec. 26-27 and Perry Dec. 30-31.

GHSA executive secretary Sam Burke approved of using the clocks, being quoted by Avondale head coach Harry Logue as "I've got an open mind about anything." Logue did not believe that any other high schools in America had tried it before.

The shot clock was set at 24 seconds, which was the NBA time. It was still new in the NBA, which had only introduced it in 1954-55.

It is a bit strange that the shot clock would even enter the thoughts of Georgians. The NBA was a northeastern and midwestern group in 1954-55; Fort Wayne (Ind.) and Philadelphia were the closest teams geographically. But something entered Burke's and perhaps the minds of others in the league. Considering the NBA's distance and television still being relatively new in 1958, this might have been the first time several tournament-goers ever saw a shot clock.

All the tournaments were small, four teams each.

Eric Staples, Perry's head coach and high school principal, was not a modernist. Staples made statewide attention later for suspending a student with a ducktail hairstyle. Football had a late start at Perry and girls basketball did not restart until the 1958-59 season.

However, Staples liked the shot clock.

"I've always believed this would help high school basketball," said Staples to The Atlanta Constitution. "It wouldn't make too much difference for the first three quarters of a game. But it would make a tremendous change in fourth quarters."

Staples said he particularly liked, that in a close game, a team could not sit on the ball late. "With this rule," he said, "it's a ball game up until the final second."

The Houston Home Journal detailed how the clock would work for its tournament, which involved Perry, Cochran, Vienna and Warner Robins.

Beyond the standard requirement of a team having to shoot within 24 seconds of gaining possession, it banned zone defense and gave the offense two foul shots (instead of one) when being fouled in the backcourt.

"Two clocks have been installed to keep up with the 24-second rule," according to The Home Journal. "If the team in possession fails to try a shot within 24 seconds, a siren blows and the ball is given to its opponent." Then, as now, an extra person was needed to run the shot clock.

Shot clock violations were to be tracked, in all varieties: Clock violations, zone defense and fouls.

The Avondale Invitational went over well, with Decatur winning the championship game.

Questionnaires were handed to 123 fans at the tournament, with 121 voting in favor of having a shot clock in some form. More specifically, Logue said 115 liked 24 seconds, with six others fine with it being 24 or 30 seconds.

Strangely, no mention seems to have been made in Statesboro's newspapers about the experiment, which would have taken place at the annual Georgia Teachers College-Jaycee tournament.

Southeast Bulloch defeated Richmond Academy in the finale. Statesboro won over Portal in the consolation.

On Jan. 1, 1959, the Houston Home Journal noted that the shot clock and rules changes "seemed to make little difference." A week later, the Home Journal said there were no shot clock violations at all during the four games.

Perry defeated Vienna in the finals, 78-65. Warner Robins won the consolation over Cochran, 66-41. In the earlier round, Perry won over Warner Robins, 59-53 and Vienna defeated Cochran, 69-53.

Two coaches said they favored a shot clock and two did not. Staples entered favoring it. The others participating were Glenn Cassell (Vienna), Shelley Hayes (Cochran) and Don LeBlanc (Warner Robins). LeBlanc told the Macon Telegraph he did not like the rule changes.

Columbus schools were not involved in any of the shot clock tournaments, but had their own opinions.

All three Columbus GHSA coaches said they favored it in a Dec. 8, 1958 Columbus Ledger column by Cecil Darby. Bubba Ball (Baker) and Charley Horne (Jordan) did disagree with it being 24 seconds. Ball suggested 30 seconds and Horne suggested 35.

With popularity wherever it went, it might seem wild that it took decades more for the shot clock to gain traction in the state.

That some coaches were hesitant would likely have been a big factor. Costs would have been another. Logue said the shot clock cost $495. In 2025 money, that's not terrible, $5,441.

Athletics were quite different in 1958 Georgia, however.

Standard electric scoreboards were still new. The Jones County News noted with glee in 1956 that one had been installed at the high school. Wiring would have been a concern, too, as nearly all gyms were wooden and many caught fire. Seminole County was distressed in 1954 because its new scoreboard burned with the gym.

Funding anything took a greater effort in the 1950s. Few schools had dedicated athletic departments. Mismatched jerseys were common for basketball teams, just as it was common for track uniforms to be recycled from other sports.

On top of this, Georgia high schools were still in transition. Brooks County consolidated in 1959, but it was not until that year that it knew whether it would be into one white high school or two; the county and Quitman city school systems combined.

More major consolidations occurred in the 1960s, as the State Department of Education came calling on promises made in the 1950s to get school building money. Wilcox County was operating four white high schools, at Abbeville, Rochelle (Wilcox Central), Pineview and Pitts.

Even though fighting consolidation with every ounce of their being, these schools - many of them Class C in size - would have been reticent on spending money they did not have on a contraption they possibly did not even want.

With small schools forming most of the GHSA at this time, odds would likely not be in favor of its adoption.

Sources: The Atlanta Constitution, Dec. 4, 1958, Dec. 20, 1958, Dec. 22, 1958; The Houston Home Journal, Dec. 18, 1958, Jan. 1, 1959 and Jan. 8, 1959; The Bulloch Herald, Jan. 1, 1959; The Jones County News, Jan. 27, 1956; Donalsonville News, Dec. 3, 1954; Macon Telegraph, Dec. 30, 1958; Columbus Ledger, Dec. 8, 1958