Proposed basketball changes are put on hold

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Proposed changes to college basketball's free-throw and 3-point line were put on hold this week.
An NCAA committee did not vote on whether to implement a new trapezoid lane and a longer 3-point line after the basketball rules committees withdrew the proposal.
It is expected to be resubmitted for a vote in September.
"It pretty much came down to that there's still a lot of questions," said Jean Lenti Ponsetto, chairwoman of the championships/competition cabinet. "It was probably good judgment."
The cabinet must first approve any rules changes. The delay, however, may have little effect.
Earlier this year, the men's and women's rules committees approved a proposal that would adopt international standards -- a trapezoid lane and a 3-point line of 20 feet, 6 inches. That is nine inches longer than the current 3-point line.
Ponsetto called it the most significant change since the 1950s.
Three weeks ago, however, the rules committees backed off a plan that would have altered the lines this year. Instead, they delayed it to 2004-05 -- and that still could happen.
Ponsetto said part of the reason for the yearlong delay was financial since most budgets are made in the fall and some schools would have needed an additional $15,000 to $20,000 to repaint floors.