With scoring plunging to historic lows, the NCAA said Friday it will experiment with a shorter shot clock at this year’s NIT to see if that can jumpstart college basketball’s lagging offense.
The tournament will feature a 30-second shot clock instead of the traditional 35-second clock that has been in play since 1993, with officials examining the effect on the games and taking the data to the men’s basketball rules committee for review in May.
“Without actually implementing it in a game, you’re just talking about it in theory,” Dan Gavitt, NCAA vice president of men’s basketball championships, said on Friday. “By actually putting it in a game with good teams, great coaches, competitive situations over a three-week time period, you’ll actually get results and data that can either verify some of your theories or dispute them.”
The NCAA will also expand the restricted area under the basket from 3 feet to 4 feet to see if it curbs the amount of collisions at the rim. Coaches who play in the tournament will be surveyed about their experience, and the rules committee will look at all the data to consider future rules changes, which could be adopted as soon as May if they gain enough support.
“Although the committee will discuss a number of potential rules changes at the meeting, having specific data on these two rules should help the committee make a decision about whether such potential rule changes might further improve the flow and competitiveness of college basketball,” said Belmont coach Rick Byrd, chairman of the committee.