High school basketball in the state of Alabama is going to look a little bit different next season.

After making the shot clock optional for non-area games if both coaches approved a couple of years ago, the AHSAA Central Board has now passed a highly anticipated mandatory 35-second shot clock implementation for all games beginning with the 2026-2027 season.

“This is  something we have been studying a good while, and our basketball coaches’ leadership has been at the forefront of this decision,” AHSAA Director Heath Harmon said in a statement. “We think this is the right time. We felt it needed to be added at the beginning of a classification period and not in the middle.”

The shot clock has a significant amount of support among coaches and will change the strategy for teams, especially those trying to protect a lead. At the college level, the shot clock has existed since the 1985-86 season, and in the NBA it has existed for more than 75 years.

“I think tactically there’ll be some adjustment for all coaches,” Hewitt-Trussville coach Jeremy Monceaux told ABC 33/40. “That’s just part of the game and part of growth, but I just think in general for the game…it’s not gonna make it that much faster or anything like crazy. You’re just gonna get these fourth quarter games that are a lot more exciting, a lot more possessions…It’s been time and we’re very grateful to the AHSAA for as basketball coaches and people for getting this done today.”

In addition to the shot clock, a mercy rule would make a running clock in the fourth quarter mandatory when the final frame begins with one team up by at least 30 points.