College basketball time proposals: 30 shot clock for men, four quarters for women

Pending final approval, college basketball will be played with a 30-second shot clock next season.

The change was one of several proposed Friday by the NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee, and formal approval is expected next month.

The shot clock reduction, the first since dropping from 45 seconds to 35 in 1993, and several other changes are intended to improve the game’s pace, to reduce stoppage time and offer better balance between offense and defense.

“I think the changes are good. I think anything to speed the pace of play up, and anything to shorten the game up at the end,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.

The rules committee reacted to what many believe to a game that has become too slow and physical. Last season, teams averaged 67.6 points per game, matching the second-lowest total since 1952.

“There are concerns about how long it takes to play games,” said Rick Byrd, chairman of the rules committee and the head coach at Belmont University. “We’ve addressed these areas as best we can.”

The women’s game also looks to help the flow of its sport and has proposed switching its format from two 20-minute halves to four 10-minute quarters. Teams would reach the bonus on the fifth team foul in each quarter, and team fouls would reset to zero at the start of each quarter.

Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma called it “a great step forward for our game.”

In the men’s game, the rules committee gave officials more latitude in calling fouls in an attempt to open offense two years ago, and it worked for a while as scoring increased. But the game bogged down last season.

To reduce collisions and block/charge calls at the basket, the committee approved the expansion of the restricted area from three to four feet.

Reducing physicality also will be emphasized on the perimeter, particularly on the dribbler, and strictly enforcing the directives that were put in the books in 2013.

“Without question, this will require an adjustment period for everyone in the game and it is likely to be difficult at times,” Byrd said. “If we strictly enforce these rules consistently, we believe players and coaches will adjust.”

Shortening games is the goal for some rules changes involving timeouts.

A coach will no longer be able to call a timeout with the ball in play. Also, a timeout called by a team within 30 seconds of a media timeout or after a scheduled TV timeout becomes the media timeout.

The committee voted to remove one team timeout in the second half and focus on resuming play more quickly after a timeout. A team could receive a delay of game one-shot technical foul if it doesn’t move quickly enough.

The time to remove a player who has fouled out has been reduced.

Other proposed changes to the men’s game expected to be adopted:

▪ Officials will be allowed to use the monitor to review a potential shot clock violation on made field goals throughout the game, and not just during the game’s final two minutes.

▪ Making a hanging-on-the-rim or delaying the resumption of play a one-shot technical instead of two.

▪ Eliminate the five-second closely guarded rule while a player is dribbling the ball.

▪ Remove the prohibition of dunking in pregame warmups. Kansas State received a technical foul for this before its opening game of the 2014 NCAA Tournament.

This story was originally published May 15, 2015 at 2:28 PM with the headline "College basketball time proposals: 30 shot clock for men, four quarters for women."