by Mike Pavlichko

The dust has settled, the legal filings have gone away, and high school basketball in New Jersey for 2023-24 is officially in the rear-view mirror.

But that doesn’t mean the NJSIAA’s work there is finished. It never is.

And when all is said and done, two big issues that arose during the state tournament must be dealt with by the association that governs high school sports in New Jersey. And one of them isn’t the shot clock.

Sure, many – including me – believe New Jersey needs a shot clock, if anything to prepare student-athletes for the game when they get to college, but that’s not even a top two issue right now.

Charter schools, and end-game situations with the clock and buzzer-beater shots need to dealt with, and before next season starts. There’s time to do it, but they’ll need to act now.

Remember when Ridge was disqualified from the state baseball tournament last year after a pitch count violation? (We’ll have more on that tomorrow.) Coaches across the state said confusion always reigned because the NJSIAA had two versions of the same rule. In some instances, pitchers could finish an at bat when they reached their limit, in others they could not.

What did the NJSIAA do? Within four months, they smartly amended the rule, and now, pitchers can finish any at bat they start. Good job.

Now, the NJSIAA has nine months until basketball season starts. Time to get to work!

Manasquan-Camden

No need to go into the weeds here, but if you were living under a rock a couple of weeks ago, the basics are this: Manasquan appeared to upset Camden on a buzzer-beating shot in the Group 2 semifinals. The shot was initially ruled good, then the referees conferred and the call was incorrectly overturned. The ball had been released by the shooter at least with at least :00.6 seconds left on the clock, according to many media photos, fan videos, and a live video stream of the event.

The NJSIAA needs to help its officials in end of game scenarios. Sure, travel calls, fouls, etc. are missed all the time. Officials are human; it happens. But a time issue, when clearly visible, shouldn’t cost anyone a game.

We get that not every school has video streaming like Hudl. Some streams are also subscription-based and not free. But the NJSIAA could start with implementing simple replay for clock-based scenarios in end-of-game situations. Red, LED backboard lights would help before it even gets to replay, too, since it’s much easier to see out of the corner of an eye than the game clock, which can be in different places in every high school gym.

Our solution? We know it will cost the NJSIAA more money, but hold all events in the Group tournament at small college sites. North 1 vs. North 2 games could be held at Kean University, South vs. Central games could be held at Monmouth, Rider, or the College of New Jersey.

There are two benefits here: First, all NCAA schools – Division I, II or III – must have backboard lights to signal the end of a period. That already will help officials with getting the call right in real time. Second, the larger gyms will have facilities and room for cameras and a video replay setup.

The NJSIAA could use its own closed-circuit camera system to help officials only with calls at the end of a period, within a certain time window. Perhaps 10 or 30 seconds could be that window, checking only on time issues, such as whether a clock wasn’t started or stopped appropriately, or whether a buzzer-beater – at the end of any period, regulation or overtime – should count.

And with the red LED backboard lights? You don’t even need the clock overlay on screen. As long as the lights are in frame, we can all see!

There was also an issue in the regular season. On February 1st, Bound Brook led Phillipsburg by three points late in the game, in what would have been a major upset for the Crusaders. The Stateliners tied the game on a three at the buzzer and won it in overtime. But a look back on Hudl shows the basket shouldn’t have counted; the ball was easily still in the Phillipsburg player’s hands with the clock at :00.

The NJSIAA could also implement some of these changes statewide for regular- and post-season games, but on a deferred basis. For example, requiring backboard lights – which at least one Athletic Director told me can’t always simply be added, since their scoreboard wouldn’t work with it – could be phased in over a four- or five-year period, to allow schools time to budget for it.

Charter Schools

Officially considered public schools, charters haven’t been a big issue in high school basketball in the past. But this season, College Achieve Asbury Park hired Dave Boff away from Roselle Catholic, and the move attracted major talent to the tiny school that plays essentially in a tiny Catholic elementary school gym.

With their public designation and wee enrollment numbers, they participated in the state tournament in Central Jersey Group 1, with small public schools that can’t draw from a large geographic area like College Achieve, which won the state Group 1 title. They blew out the competition en route.

The NJSIAA would have been jumping the gun to make a change before the season. Rules can’t be rewritten just because one coach jumps from one school to another, or on the assumption that something might happen. What if Boff walked away after one season? It would have been a knee-jerk reaction.

But now that College Achieve had the success we figured they would when we wrote about them as the season got underway, it could be the model moving forward: big-name coach, top-flight talent. And Central Jersey Group 1 clearly isn’t where they belong.

Earlier this year, the NJSIAA addressed classification issues with charters for 2024-25. Tiny charters often push small “true” publics – like a Spotswood or South River – from Group 1, where they belong, to Group 2. But starting next season, the NJSIAA will classify the “true” publics first, then put the charters wherever they fall, large or small.

Our solution? A third non-public section – or call it something else if you want – that would be solely for charter schools. They’re not really non-publics, which can draw from anywhere, but they’re not really public either in that they can draw from multiple towns. Call it a “charter” group if you want. Call it the “Jabberwocky” section. But they need to be separate from true public schools with smaller geographical boundaries.

Sometimes, bad things have to happen for change to take place. There’s no doubt the officials blew the end of the Camden-Manasquan game, and there’s no doubt College Achieve had an advantage over any other contender it met in the state playoffs.

Nothing will be perfect, but both these moves will at least improve high school basketball in New Jersey and level the playing field more than it is now.

And after all, isn’t that what the NJSIAA is there for?