NCAA men's basketball players likely will need a little more distance on their 3-point shots beginning next season.
The organization's rules committee has proposed moving the 3-point line back from 20 feet, 9 inches to the international distance of 22 feet, 1 3/4 inches, the NCAA announced Friday. That change and a handful of other proposed tweaks will go to a vote of an oversight panel on June 5 for approval.
The committee noted three primary reasons for extending the 3-point line:
— Making the lane more available for dribble/drive plays from the perimeter.
— Slowing the trend of the 3-point shot becoming too prevalent in men’s college basketball by making the shot a bit more challenging, while at the same time keeping the shot an integral part of the game.
— Assisting in offensive spacing by requiring the defense to cover more of the court.
“After gathering information over the last two seasons, we feel it’s time to make the change,” said Colorado coach Tad Boyle, chairman of the rules committee. “Freedom of movement in the game remains important, and we feel this will open up the game. We believe this will remove some of the congestion on the way to the basket.”
The international 3-point line has been used in the NIT the last two seasons, but the NCAA noted that change didn't dissuade anyone from outside shots: teams attempted 23.1 3-pointers per game in this year's NIT compared to 22.8 per game during the regular season.
With that small sample size in mind, moving the line back nearly a foot and a half might not be enough to slow the growing trend toward long-range shooting. The 3-pointer played a key role in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, with Auburn making the Final Four in a season that saw the Tigers average 30 attempts per game from beyond the arc and Purdue guard Carsen Edwards set a tournament record by making 28 threes in just four games.
Carsen Edwards' #Elite8 highlight tape is one for the ages. 👏#MarchMadness | @BoilerBall pic.twitter.com/Vz3v41c0PA
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 31, 2019
The 3-point line has been at 20 feet, 9 inches since the 2008-09 season. The NCAA women's line moved back a foot to that distance for the 2011-12 season.
In addition to the 3-point line move, the rules committee also proposed the following changes for 2019-20:
— Re-setting the shot clock to 20 seconds (instead of 30) when the offensive team gets a rebound in the front court.
— Calling players for a Flagrant 2 foul and ejecting them "should they use derogatory language about an opponent’s race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation or disability."
— Allowing coaches to call live-ball time outs during the last two minutes of the second half and any overtime periods.
— Allowing replay review on basket interference or goaltending calls in the last two minutes of the second half and any overtime periods.
