No more Three-Point Showdown - but NIL? Takeaways from IHSA's August meeting

In Bloomington, the board of directors of the Illinois High School Association had its monthly meeting Aug. 22.

Several interesting things came out of the meeting.

• Hinsdale Central will remain the host of boys and girls lacrosse state finals for at least the next three years, from 2023-25.

• Host schools have increasingly gone to the digital GoFan application to sell tickets to state series or playoff events. The board approved a recommendation that will add one dollar more to cash tickets than the GoFan ticket price.

IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson explained the host administrators complained that some people had the ability to pay digitally but chose not to. This recommendation arose to provide incentive for people to use the digital ticketing option.

• The Three-Point Showdown for boys and girls state basketball will be discontinued - at least "for the time being," Anderson said. Having all four classes compete over the same three-day period "created challenges conducting it at multiple levels," Anderson explained.

• The board approved the experimental use of a shot clock in girls and boys basketball in regular-season tournaments and "shootouts."

• Among the board's "discussion items" was one pertaining to NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) for IHSA student-athletes - or, as the NCAA said, a legal concept used to prevent or allow an individual to promote a product or service. The board will continue that discussion at its September meeting "with a possible recommendation for a bylaw addressing NIL allowances during the upcoming IHSA legislative process," according to the meeting summary.