WIAA again swats away advancements for the game

Jim McIlvaine might be the greatest shot blocker in the history of high school basketball in Wisconsin.

But the former 7-foot-1 center from Racine St. Catherine's, who blocked 11 shots in a game against Sheboygan North in 1989, has nothing on the WIAA.

Indeed, the WIAA has become the king of swat when it comes to blocking what's good for the game of basketball in our state.

Last Tuesday, the WIAA Advisory Council had the opportunity to advance three proposals that would have moved Wisconsin high school basketball into the modern era.

Instead, the 18-member council voted down each recommendation, leaving high school coaches, players and fans across the state shaking their collective heads in disappointment.

By majority vote, these three proposals were sent to the scrapyard for yet another year:

1) Increasing the number of teams at the WIAA State Tournament from the current 20 to 40.

The is a new idea, but it's one that has a lot of merit. Moving from a five-division, 4-4-4-4-4 format to a more celebratory five-division, 8-8-8-8-8 setup would allow more players, more schools and more communities to experience the state tournament while also potentially breaking up loaded sectionals fields. It would necessitate quarterfinal games at three sites on Wednesday of state-tournament week. That is a big change, to be sure. But it's also one that is possible with plenty of options for sites in the Madison area. The semifinals and title games in each division would continue to be played at the Kohl Center.

Ninety-one percent of the high school coaches in Wisconsin who responded to a survey favored moving from 20 to 40 teams for the state tournament. Neighboring states Iowa and Minnesota, despite having fewer high schools, currently send eight teams in each of their four divisions to their respective state tournaments.

2) Adopting a 35-second shot clock.

The WIAA opted to kick this can down the road for yet another year. When first proposed back in 2017, one could easily find coaches on each side of the aisle in terms of whether to put a shot clock into use at the prep level in Wisconsin. Eight years later, the pendulum has swung substantially. More coaches than ever want a shot clock. Some are very vocal on social media about it.

The biggest reason the WIAA continues to nix the idea of implementing a shot clock is financial. Many schools are struggling financially. Some are in dire straights. And yet, somehow, 33 other states have adopted the shot clock, including Iowa and Minnesota. It can be done. The most recent proposal gave schools a two-year grace period to get the clocks installed for use in the 2027-28 season. It didn't matter. The WIAA again said no.

Volleyball soared when it went to rally scoring many years ago. Basketball is a more enjoyable game to watch with a shot clock. It's a more strategic game with a shot clock. At some point, hopefully in the very near future, WIAA officials finally will realize as much.

3) Releasing seeds for the WIAA playoffs on the last Friday of the regular season.

Seeds for the WIAA playoffs currently are released with one week left in the regular season. The basketball coaches would prefer to have games through the last Thursday of the regular season count before seeds are released. That makes sense. And, if this recommendation had been in place last season, more than 115 schools would have had different seeds than the one they received with a week left in the regular season.

But the WIAA, citing a lack of lead time to inform officials and school administrators of assignments for the opening night of regionals the following Tuesday, opted to vote this proposal down. Nonsense. School administrators and officials know well in advance they could host or referee on the opening night of regionals. Not that long ago, the WIAA determined football playoff seeds and pairings on the last Friday night of the regular season with opening-round games set for the following Tuesday. Like football, all games in basketball should count in determining seeds.

Further complicating the frustration of basketball coaches is the fact other sports, particularly football and wrestling, have had substantial changes in their tournament structure approved.

The question now becomes where do the basketball coaches go from here? Do they attempt -- again -- to work through the various WIAA committees next spring, hoping to finally convince committee members to pass these improvements? Do they possibly involve state legislators? Can WIAA personnel reach out to the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association to set up meetings prior to next spring to help the coaches gather information/data that might help in the passing of these recommendations?

Maybe a combination of the above might work. In any case, don't look for these recommendations to be tossed into the trash heap. They may not be in place yet, but those behind the ideas aren't anywhere near throwing in the towel. And that is good news for basketball fans in the state.