Most of you already know that the 3 point line has been moved back again for this season but the reasoning for the change is interesting.

It has been moved back 16 3/4 inches from 20 feet 9 inches to 22 feet 1 3/4 inches for men's D1 basketball this year. The change will not go in effect until the 2020-21 season for D2 and D3.
The reasoning by the NCAA is as follows:

The committee said the line was moved to make the lane more available for drives from the perimeter, to slow the trend of making 3-pointers so prevalent and to create more offensive spacing by requiring the defense to cover more of the court.

We saw some of this in the Loyola game as the Ramblers burned the Aggies repeatedly off the backdoor cut and the Ags scored at will inside when William Jessop ran out of steam in the second half.

The 3 point shot was first introduced in college basketball in the 1986-87 season at 19 feet 9 inches and that distance remains the same for high school today. In 2009 the NCAA moved the line back one foot to 20 feet 9 inches.



Other significant rule changes for this year are:

The NCAA Women’s Basketball Rules Committee approved an experimental rule last month using the international 3-point line in postseason events outside of the NCAA championships in each division.

The panel also approved resetting the shot clock to 20 seconds after an offensive rebound and gave coaches the ability to call live-ball timeouts in the last two minutes of the second half and any overtime period.

Players also will be assessed technical fouls for derogatory language about an opponent’s race, religion, sexual orientation or disability.

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/college/ncaa-moving-3-point-line-back-for-first-time-in-a-decade/