NCAA committee calls for switch to 30-second shot clock in men’s game, make women’s game more like pros

The NCAA made a series of changes to men’s college basketball two seasons ago in an attempt to boost scoring and reduce physical play under the basket.

Those changes barely moved the needle, so now the NCAA is taking more drastic steps.

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee recommended reducing the shot clock from 35 to 30 seconds on Friday, the biggest step in a series of changes aimed at speeding up a game that has reached historic lows in scoring two of the past three seasons.

The new shot clock will be in place the next two seasons, the first time it has been reduced since dropping from 45 to 35 seconds in 1993-94. The newly shortened clock would be reevaluated after that.

The changes still must be approved by the NCAA’s Playing Rules Oversight Committee, which meets next month.

The committee also recommended several other changes to speed up the game and take out some of the physical play:

• Extending the restricted arc for block/charge calls under the basket from 3 to 4 feet.

• Reducing second-half timeouts by one per team and removing timeout calls in live-ball situations. Timeouts called within 30 seconds of a scheduled media timeout also would be counted as a media timeout.

• Proposed that teams get a total of 10 seconds to move the ball to the front court, a limit on the time teams have to replace disqualified players and an elimination of the five-second, closely guarded rule while players are dribbling the ball.

• Class B technical fouls – like hanging on the rim and delay of game – would be reduced to one shot and officials would be allowed to use video review on shot clock violations throughout the game.The committee also approved adding one foul per player – up to six, like the NBA – as an experimental rule for the NIT, CBI and CIT tournaments in 2016.

Women’s rules

The NCAA women’s basketball committee came up with suggested changes that include playing four 10-minute quarters instead of two halves, advancing the ball to the frontcourt in the final minute of game after a timeout and shooting two free throws after the fifth foul of each quarter. Those rules are already used in the WNBA.

The proposals will be evaluated on June 8 by a playing rules oversight panel.

If they are passed they will be implemented starting next year.

The new rules would be used across all three divisions of women’s basketball.