College basketball extends 3-point line among new rule changes

In an effort to help improve the pace of the game, the NCAA is implementing a slew of rule changes next season, including the extension of the 3-point line to the international distance.

College basketball is great, but there’s no question the game could be improved. Winning teams often rely on the three, since it is comically short compared to the NBA’s 3-point line, and that could produce less exciting results.

The NCAA agreed, announcing a slate of rules changes designed at improving the pace of play, headlined by extending the 3-point line to the international distance of 22 feet, 1 and 3/4 inches from the basket.

The rules committee, which approved all the changes, believes the added distance will not only make the shot more challenging but it will also help create offensive spacing by forcing teams to defend more areas of the floor. This logic is very sound, and it makes sense since these are elite athletes who should easily be able to adjust to the added shooting length.

A longer 3-point line also serves the players better since it gives them a closer approximation of what it is like to shoot from pro range, which is slightly longer than the International arc. That assessment would be valuable for NBA teams, making it easier to determine which college players will be best-equipped to shoot from distance at the professional level.

Another important rule change the committee introduced is resetting the shot clock to 20 seconds on an offensive rebound instead of the full 30. This makes sense as well since an offensive rebound doesn’t result in a change of possession, negating the need to give them the 10 seconds to advance the ball beyond half court.

This rule is designed to increase offensive possessions, which should lead to more scoring, which will lead to more exciting basketball games. Coaches have also been granted the ability to call live-ball timeouts in the final two minutes of the second half and overtime periods, adding more strategy to the end of games.