NCAA to Move 3-Point Line Back to International Distance This Season

The NCAA has announced that the 3-point line will be moved back to the international distance for the upcoming Division I men’s basketball season.

The 3-point line will now be 22 feet, 1.75 inches away from the basket, which is an increase from the 20 feet, nine inches it had been set at since the 2008-2009 season. Before that it was 19 feet, nine inches from the basket.

The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel wanted to make the lane more available for players to drive, to slow down the trend of the 3-point shot being too prevalent in college basketball and to help offensive spacing.

Before making the rule change, the NCAA experimented with the rule change in the NIT. Teams shot a combined 35 percent from 3-point range with the old line in the regular season. With the new line in the NIT, they shot nearly two percent lower.

Division I will undergo the change for the 2019-2020 season, while Divisions II and III will change over for the 2020-2021 season.

Another rule was approved, which gives a team getting an offensive rebound after the ball hits the rim 20 seconds on the shot clock. The rule formerly restored the shot clock to 30 seconds in this situation. The committee cited that this will help the pace of play of the game and that the offense doesn’t need 30 seconds because the ball is already advanced past halfcourt.

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