The three - point line was first tested at the collegiate level in a 1945 NCAA game between Columbia and Fordham but it was not kept as a rule. At the direction of Abe Saperstein, the American Basketball League became the first basketball league to institute the rule in 1961. Its three - point line was a radius of 25 feet (7.62 m) from the baskets, except along the sides. The Eastern Professional Basketball League followed in its 1963 -- 64 season.
when was the three point shot added to basketball
1961