when was the 3pt line added to college basketball
Three-point field goal Used only in conference play for several years, it was adopted by the NCAA in April 1986 for the 1986–87 season at 19 ft 9 in (6.02 m),[15] and was first used in the NCAA Tournament in 1987.[16] In the same 1986–87 season, the NCAA adopted the three-pointer in women's basketball on an experimental basis, using the same distance, and made its use mandatory beginning in 1987–88.[17] In 2007, the NCAA lengthened the men's distance by a foot to 20 ft 9 in (6.32 m), effective with the 2008–09 season,[18] and the women's line was moved to match the men's in 2011–12.[17] American high schools, along with elementary and middle schools, adopted a 19 ft 9 in (6.02 m) line nationally in 1987, a year after the NCAA.[19] The NCAA used the FIBA three-point line (see below) in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in 2018.[20]
Three-point field goal 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.[2] The Eastern Professional Basketball League followed in its 1963–64 season.