NCAA considers new lines

INDIANAPOLIS -- College basketball teams may have to contend with wider lanes, longer 3-pointers and more replays on game-winning shots as early as next season.\nThe NCAA men's basketball rules committee begins three days of meetings Tuesday in Indianapolis. The most significant proposals would be those most visible to fans and players -- changing the lines on the court.\nThe committee is considering expanding the college lane from 12 feet to either the NBA distance of 16 feet or the trapezoid that is used in international competition.\nIt also will debate extending the 3-point line from 19 feet, 9 inches to the international standard of 20 feet, 6 inches.\n"As far as the lane, I think the committee will make some kind of decision," said Edward Bilik, the committee's secretary rules editor. "I'm not sure about the 3-point line."\nIf the committee recommends changes this week, the NCAA championship committee would still have to approve them in June. Wider lanes and a longer 3-pointer have been discussed for years, but Bilik said this week's meetings could produce a vote, although he is uncertain if either will pass.\n"In terms of the questionnaire we put out, the support for the lane is not as strong as the support for the line," Bilik said.\nBilik does expect a vote on the wider lane, which has been used in exempt games such as the Maui Invitational for several years.\nThe NCAA experimented with the trapezoid three years ago and has used the NBA-standard the last two seasons.\nBilik said three years is long enough to determine if change would help reduce the rugged inside play that some coaches have complained about.\n"There has been a concern that it has become a game of the weight room rather than a game of skill," Bilik said. "I think the committee would rather it be a game of skill."\nThe future of the 3-point line, adopted in 1986, is even less certain.\nLast season was the first time the NCAA required exempt games to be played with the 3-pointer at the international distance, so the committee could opt for another year of experimentation.\nStatistics collected from 25 exempt games and 25 randomly selected regular-season games this year indicated a longer distance had little affect on teams.\nTeams shot 34 percent from the longer 3-point line, compared with 35 percent at the shorter distance, and teams actually took more shots (902-870) from the international line. There was a 5 percent margin of error in the sampling.\nBilik said those numbers may help the 12 committee members decide.\n"You start with the hypothesis that, one, if the line is back, the percentage should be significantly lower and it wasn't," he said. "And two, if the line is back, it would affect the number of shots. The stats really refuted that."\nThe statistics also showed the wider lane produced no significant changes in offensive or defensive rebounds off missed free throws or a higher rate of violations or fouls on free throws.\nBut it did have an inadvertent affect. Coaches responded in their questionnaires that it opened up the offense by creating more space for players to drive through.\nIf approved this week, the changes could take effect as early as next season. The implementation could be delayed, however, by costs or if schools are unable to reconfigure their floors in time for next season.\n"They could do anything," said Marty Benson, the NCAA rules committee liaison. "They could vote on the two proposals together, or they could decide to do one or the other."\nThe committee will also consider an expansion in the use of television replay at the end of games.\nCurrent rules allow replay only to be used for determining whether a shot was off before the game clock expired.\nFollowing a controversial ending to an Oklahoma-Oklahoma State game last year, the committee will consider adding shot-clock violations, goaltending or offensive interference, and whether a player was fouled in the act of 3-pointer or a 2-pointer on game-winners for review.\n"I'm guessing some people want to limit the use of the monitor and others feel, 'We have the monitor there, so let's use it,'" he said.