photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Free State senior Parker Moore (8) high-fives junior Ethan Prescott (7) during the season opener against Shawnee Mission East on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Lawrence.

Lawrence will send two high school football players to Division I teams this year. Lawrence High School quarterback Banks Bowen signed with the University of Tulsa, and Free State linebacker Parker Moore signed with the University of Wyoming.

Both players committed to their respective schools earlier in the summer and stuck with their commitments.

Bowen was named a first-team all-Sunflower League quarterback and the Sunflower League Offensive Player of the Year after throwing for 2,368 yards and 23 touchdowns. Bowen added another 861 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. He committed to Tulsa on June 26.

At Tulsa, Bowen will be coached by newly hired Tre Lamb, who coached East Tennessee State to a 7-5 record in his lone season with the program.

photo by: Mike Shaw/Special to the Journal-World

Lawrence quarterback Banks Bowen looks to make a pass during a game at Shawnee Mission West on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Overland Park.

Moore had 73 tackles, 13 for a loss, five sacks, a forced fumble and an interception. Offensively, Moore rushed for 223 yards and nine touchdowns. He earned first-team all-Sunflower League honors and was named a first-team all-state player by the Kansas Football Coaches Association.

Wyoming has had recent success developing linebackers into NFL draftees. Logan Wilson and Chad Muma are two of the program’s latest successes. Both played under Aaron Bohl as their position coach, and he will be the team’s defensive coordinator.

Moore is the second linebacker from Douglas County to be recruited by Wyoming. Last year, Baldwin linebacker Jack Harvey was part of the Cowboys’ 2024 recruiting class.

New shot clock doesn’t change much for local high school basketball teams

This season, there’s a new wrinkle in Kansas high school basketball games: a shot clock.

For the first time, select Kansas State High School Activities Association schools are on a trial run with 35-second shot clocks. Despite the change, Lawrence and Free State coaches aren’t expecting much of a difference at all.

“I’ve always been an advocate of (a shot clock) since I came to high school basketball,” Free State basketball coach Dwayne Paul said. “It hasn’t really affected us that much. I don’t think you’ll see it make much of a difference in the first three quarters.”

Paul said his team wants to play fast offensively and that the shot clock helps keep the team on pace.

Offensively, coaches agreed that they don’t believe it’ll change how they operate, but it is something that players have to be mindful of. If a shot misses the rim completely, players are now in a time crunch to collect the rebound and put up a shot attempt before a shot-clock violation is called.

“We may be able to get through our sets one or two times, then it’s like, well, how much time is left on the shot clock? We have to try to find a way to get a good look,” Lawrence High School coach Nick Wood said.

Lawrence girls basketball coach Jeff Dickson said the more difficult challenge this year will for the shot-clock operators, rather than the basketball players.

Dickson will have to alter some things in his late-game strategy. As a self-described old-school coach, he would slow his team’s offensive pace down if his team held a comfortable lead with four minutes left. Now, those late-game possessions will have to be faster, but it won’t be anything that the team can’t handle.

“The kids will be happy (about it),” Dickson said. “Everybody will be able to enjoy basketball and not have to see me mess that stuff up.”

Dickson and his team have spent summers competing at several tournaments with shot clocks, so the team won’t be completely new to it for the season.

The KSHSAA board will decide after the season if the shot clock will be a permanent feature.