Looking to inject excitement into the game, in 1986 the NCAA implemented an arc, 19’9” away from the basket, and declared every shot made from behind it worth three points. The distance away from the goal has been monkeyed with twice and now resides at a universal 22’2” for men and women.
Thought of as gimmicky by the league, the NBA resisted installing one ‘til 1979, which was, coincidentally, the birth of “Showtime” – Larry Bird and Magic Johnson’s rookie season. But it was not until the onset of the 21st-century that coaches truly began to maximize its benefits and structure entire offenses around the 3-ball. These daze there are colleges where all five position players have the green light to shoot 3-pointers all night long, and these teams do so upwards of 40 times/game.
Antoine Davis, the NCAA all-time leader, made 588 three pointers outta the 1,566 he attempted during his five-year career at Detroit Mercy. While Northern Arizona’s Stephen Sir holds the mark for career 3-point shooting percentage at nearly 47 percent.
As far as the Razorbacks are concerned, a host of deadeye bombers have worn the jersey over the years, beginning with #44, Marvin Delph. Known to possess otherworldly range, according to coach Eddie Sutton, Delph’s reign came when 25 footers counted the same as dunks and layups – two points. Had he played a decade later, there is no telling how many 3-balls he woulda hit.
Tim Scott, who played for Jocelyn Elders’ husband, Oliver, at Little Rock Hall High School, was the first real 3-point threat to play for the Hogs. Known as Old Man River due to his mature look, I recall him hitting 3s from all over the gym in an upset over Kansas early in Nolan’s tenure.
Massachusetts native Pat Bradley holds the Razorbacks career mark with 366 treys and is tied for 55th in NCAA history, 222 behind record-holder Davis. Only three Razorbacks have made 100 or more over the course of a season – Isaiah Joe (113), Scotty Thurman (102) and Bradley (100). Amazingly, Joe set the bar as a true freshman and only played one year at Arkansas before declaring for the NBA draft.
Alex Dillard certainly had the longest range off any Razorback and was arguably the purest shooter, but it is hard to ignore Bradley’s numbers. Then there is Thurman, the most clutch to ever don the cardinal and white, as he broke many teams’ hearts with game winners as time expired, particularly Duke’s in 1994. He always wanted the ball in late-game situations, and the team usually found a way to get it to him. From his first year ‘til his final one, Thurman never ran from the bright lights of any pressure-packed situations, and most of the time he and the Hogs came out on top.
The current Razorback squad has struggled shooting 3s so far and are nowhere near the level necessary to compete for titles, according to Coach Cal, who addressed this area of concern after losing last week to TCU on the road in an exhibition game.
“We have to shoot and make more threes in order to beat quality teams like the one we played tonight,” Calipari said. “We need to put up around twenty-five a game and make ten or so of them. Going 4-11 just won’t get it done.”
Nor will 5-20, as they shot in their next game, a 72-67 defeat at the hands of the 8th-ranked Baylor Bears. But fear not, there are plenty of shooters on this Razorback squad who will eventually find their range, and those shots will begin to fall like rain, and when they do, it is on.
Woooo…