Experimental NIT rules could become the new future of college basketball


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SALT LAKE CITY — With the National Invitation Tournament just a few days away, you can expect to see some new styles of play as the NCAA announced it will be experimenting with four rule changes in this year's tournament.

Over the years, the NIT has been the testing ground for college basketball, and this year the experiments will continue. With two local teams competing in this year's NIT, BYU and Utah players will be a part of these rule modifications that could impact the future of college basketball.

The new modifications include:

  • The 3-point line will be extended by approximately 1 foot 8 inches to the same distance used by the International Basketball Federation for international competition (22 feet 1.75 inches).
  • The free-throw lane will be widened from 12 feet to 16 feet, consistent with the width used by the NBA.
  • The games will be divided into four 10-minute quarters as opposed to two 20-minute halves. Teams will shoot two free throws beginning with the fifth foul of each quarter.
  • The shot clock will reset to 20 seconds after an offensive rebound instead of the full 30 seconds.

With the extended 3-point line making it more difficult for threes, the NCAA committee hopes the widening of the lane will make up for that by more room for players to attack the basket. Extending the arc will force teams to shoot closer to the basket rather than outside the arc.

Changing from two halves to four quarters was previously implemented in the 2017 NIT. With women’s college basketball making the switch to quarters, men’s college basketball is currently the only organization college level or higher to still use halves.

The new shot clock time will be an adjustment teams will have to make by affecting their pace of play. This will force teams to have a quicker offense after offensive rebounds. With teams having less time, it will allow for more possessions during the game, which can result in more points.

“The style of play in men’s college basketball is healthy and appealing, but the leadership governing the game is interested in keeping the playing rules contemporary and trending favorably," Dan Gavitt, the NCAA's senior vice president of basketball, said in a February release. "Experimenting with two significant court dimension rules, a shot-clock reset rule and a game-format rule all have some level of support in the membership, so the NIT will provide the opportunity to gather invaluable data and measure the experience of the participants."

After the tournament, the rule changes will be discussed and evaluated by coaches, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee, the Division I Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee, and the Division I Men’s Basketball Competition Committee. If all of these committees think the change will be beneficial to the game, they will implement the rule into upcoming seasons. The NCAA can change its rules every two years. With the two-year cycle, changes wouldn't be made until that ends in May 2019.

In previous years, the NCAA tested the 30-second shot clock along with the 4-foot charge arc under the basket in the NIT. Both of those experimental rules became permanent.

Utah will face UC Davis in the first round at the Huntsman Center with BYU squaring off with Stanford at Maples Pavillion. Both games will take place on Wednesday.

For the rest of the teams, the NIT begins on March 13, with the semifinals and championship game held on March 27 and 29 in New York City at Madison Square Garden. Lexi Lewis is studying public relations at Utah Valley University. You can follow her on Twitter @lex_lew1018.

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