NCAA moves the three-point line, what does that mean for Longwood?

Yesterday the NCAA announced that the three-point line will move back in Division I from 20 feet, 9 inches to 22 feet, 1¾ inches which matches international rules. When the news came out the Longwood twitter-verse gasped a bit since the Lancers were sixth in the country last year in terms of percentage of field goals that were three-pointers last year.

While moving the line back for a team that is so three-point heavy may seem like bad news, for Longwood it’s actually good news. Why is this the case? Well there are two reasons. The first is that Longwood‘s system is set up in such a way that the Lancers do not take shots at the line. The team has actually extended their range, sound familiar Shabooty Phillips fans? The second is that this could be a defensive advantage for Longwood.

When talking about the offensive side of the ball, Longwood will still have a heavy emphasis on bombing the ball from beyond the arc. For an offense heavily based on spacing, the floor will actually open up more and there will be more access to the driving lanes.

The other thing to think about with the rule change is how this affects other teams. A lot of other teams are going to have to adjust, while Longwood won’t as much. LU gave up a ton of threes a year ago and this rule change may actually help on the defensive end as shooters may become more hesitant on the other side of the ball.