<P> The shot clock received near - universal praise for its role in improving the style of play in the NBA . Coach and referee Charley Eckman said, "Danny Biasone saved the NBA with the 24 - second rule ." Boston Celtic all - star Bob Cousy said, "Before the new rule, the last quarter could be deadly . The team in front would hold the ball indefinitely, and the only way you could get it was by fouling somebody . In the meantime, nobody dared take a shot and the whole game slowed up . With the clock, we have constant action . I think it saved the NBA at that time . It allowed the game to breathe and progress ." League president Maurice Podoloff called the adoption of the shot clock "the most important event in the NBA ." The league itself states, "Biasone's invention rescue (d) the league ." </P> <P> Two later pro leagues that rivaled the NBA adopted a modified version of the shot clock . The American Basketball League used a 30 - second shot clock for its two years in existence (1961--1963). The American Basketball Association also adopted a 30 - second clock when it launched in 1967--68, switching to the NBA's 24 - second length for its final season (1975--76). </P> <P> In the 1969--70 season, women's collegiate basketball (at the time sanctioned by the Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women) used a 30 - second shot clock on an experimental basis, officially adopting it for the 1970--71 season . Unlike the women's side, there was initial resistance to the implementation of a shot clock for men's NCAA basketball, due to fears that smaller colleges would be unable to compete with powerhouses in a running game . However, after extreme results like an 11--6 Tennessee win over Temple in 1973, support for a men's shot clock began to build . The NCAA introduced a 45 - second shot clock for the men's game in the 1985--86 season, reducing it to 35 seconds in the 1993--94 season and 30 seconds in the 2015--16 season . The NAIA also reduced the shot clock to 30 seconds for men's basketball starting in 2015--16 . </P> <P> From its inception in 1975, the Philippine Basketball Association adopted a 25 - second shot clock . This was because the shot clocks then installed at the league's main venues, the Araneta Coliseum and Rizal Memorial Coliseum (the latter no longer used by the league), could only be set at 5 - second intervals . The league later adopted a 24 - second clock starting from the 1995 season . The Metropolitan Basketball Association in the Philippines used the 23 - second clock from its maiden season in 1998 . In Filipino college basketball, the NCAA Basketball Championship (Philippines) and the UAAP Basketball Championship adopted a 30 - second clock; they switched to 24 seconds starting with the 2001--02 season, the first season to start after the FIBA rule change in 2001 . </P>

When did the ncaa start using a shot clock