On Wednesday, the NCAA approved a new rule that moves the three-point line back to the international basketball measurement of 22-foot-1.75. The change, passed by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel, will go into effect immediately for the 2019-20 season for Division I basketball.



During a radio interview on JOX Roundtable, Roy Williams was asked by the show's intern Garrison Brooks about the three-point line change. Brooks happens to a junior forward for the Tar Heels, who started every game for North Carolina in 2018-19. Brooks booked Williams as a guest and his interview with his coach was part of his internship with the radio station.

"The first thing is it's going to make sure that you don't shoot many threes," Williams joked to Brooks about the three-point line change. "Remember where your toast is buttered on, big fella."

UNC head coach Roy Williams

"I think the change is okay," Williams said. "I don't care... I wish we would have taken the shot clock down to 15 seconds because I know we'd be more effective. I think the game had gotten out of balance. I think there were too many threes being shot. I like a game where there is a balance of inside play and outside play. The three-point shot, moving it back, will take the percentages down, that is pretty obvious. It does open up the floor more, so you may have more drives to the basket. I think it is okay. We'll adjust to it. We'll be fine with it. We are not a team that has been living and dying on the three-point shot anyway."

While historically that is true --- North Carolina has been an inside-out team that enjoys scoring inside first before shooting threes -- the Tar Heels in recent seasons have relied more on the three than in previous years.

UNC attempted 791 threes last season and made 289, good for a 36.5 percent three-point shooting percentage. In 2017-18, UNC shot 796 threes and made 290, a 36.4 percent shooting mark. In the 2016-17 National Championship season, the Tar Heels shot 672 threes and made 246 which was a 36.6 percentage.

The reason for more threes in the last few seasons is that the Tar Heels have not had a reliable inside scorer like past teams have had with Brice Johnson, John Henson, Tyler Zeller, Tyler Hansbrough, and Sean May, for example. UNC has had to find its scoring elsewhere, much coming from beyond the arc. Additionally, the emergence of quality shooters like Justin Jackson, Joel Berry, Luke Maye, Kenny Williams, Cameron Johnson, and Coby White has allowed Carolina to enjoy success from deep.

Williams continued his answer telling Brooks what he wants from him. It was a moment of radio show coaching.

"You just remember where I want you, big fella," Williams said. "I want you making that free throw jump shot out to the top of the key coming down on secondary. I want you facing up and shooting that jump shot at the basket. But I also want you getting down there in the trenches and doing both."

"I'll tell you what, he did a great job for us defensively," Williams said about Brooks. "He did a great job for us on the backboards. I just want him to do a better job in both those places and we do need more offense out of Garrison this year, but he understands that. You've got an extremely bright young man and a great young man with you."

Per NCAA.com’s Andy Katz, the committee cited several reasons for moving the line back:

* Making the lane more available for dribble/drive plays from the perimeter

* Slowing the trend of the three-point shot becoming too prevalent in men’s college basketball by making the shot a bit more challenging, while at the same time keeping the shot an integral part of the game

* Assisting in offensive spacing by requiring the defense to cover more of the court

This marks the first time the three-point line was moved since pushing from 19-9 in 2007-08 to 20-9 in 2008-09. The first year of that change saw teams shoot 34.2 percent from behind the arc, while they scored, on average, 33.1 percent of their points from distance, per KenPom. Ten years later, teams were shooting 35.1 percent and taking 37.5 percent of their shot attempts from behind the three-point line.