The ACC is proposes some tweaks in football and basketball this upcoming season.
The ACC league meetings continue and a couple interesting developments continue to trickle out in terms of how recruiting and game-play might change.
First up, John Swofford announced that the league will propose an early signing period for football programs that would allow recruits to sign on August 1 of their senior season. Right now, recruits can't even take a school visit until their first day of senior year classes.
One person very much interested in seeing this change happen is Syracuse Orange assistant coach Clark Lea:
"These decisions are made so early a lot of times," Lea said. "I think it works two ways. One is: It allows a team to have a committed player who can sign early to focus their attention elsewhere. And then on the flip side, if I'm recruiting a kid that signs early somewhere else, now I can consolidate resources. I'm not chasing him. I then turn my focus where it needs to be.
"And I think it cleans up some of the commit-decommit mess that really is a black eye at times."
It might take the "fun" out of NLI day but it also sounds like it could protect both players and schools if done correctly.
The other development is the proposal to use a 30-second shot clock during ACC school basketball exhibition games this upcoming season.
Right now, the college basketball shot clock is 35 seconds, while the NBA's is 24 seconds. This is yet another attempt by the sport's administrators to speed up the game and increase scoring, in an effort to increase interest and ratings. There have been calls for shorter shot clocks in recent years, but the NCAA's response focused on new foul rules that were designed to increase scoring and emphasize offense.
The ACC was the fastest league in the nation in 2002 with an average tempo of 74.2 possessions per game. Last year it was dead last with 61.8 PPG. If you were one of the people complaining about that slowed down play, this is your make-up call.
