NCAA Proposes Moving 3-Point Line to International Range, Shot Clock Changes

The NCAA men's basketball rules committee issued a series of proposals Friday for the 2019-20 college basketball season, headlined by moving the three-point line back to the distance used by FIBA for international games (22'1¾"), per NCAA.com.

Other proposals include a shot clock reset to 20 seconds rather than the full 30 seconds on an offensive rebound, a flagrant-2 technical foul and ejection for derogatory language toward an opponent, giving coaches the option to call live-ball timeouts during the last two minutes or overtime and the ability for referees to review possible basket interference or goaltending calls in the final two minutes or OT.

The men's college game used a three-point line of 20'¾" during the 2018-19 season.

Colorado Buffaloes head coach Tad Boyle, who serves as chairman of the rules committee, said in the announcement that moving the line back would create more space offensively while also altering the overdependent nature of teams on outside shooting.

"After gathering information over the last two seasons, we feel it's time to make the change," he said. "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 committee felt comfortable moving forward with the changes after the increased three-point line was tested during the 2018 and 2019 NIT events. The minor shot-clock alteration was also evaluated during the 2019 NIT.

All five rules will be voted on by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel on June 5. If approved, they will go into effect immediately for next season at the Division I level, while waiting an extra year until the 2020-21 campaign for Division II and Division III.

In April, George Schroeder of USA Today noted a new record for three-point shots attempted was set during the 2019 NCAA tournament, and it only took until the Elite Right to do it.

Whether moving the line back would reverse that trend is unclear as basketball as a whole has moved more toward threes and shots in the paint, making the mid-range game a lost art.