To Duquesne University coach Ron Everhart's way of thinking, moving the 3-point line back a foot will be a major setback for mid-major schools.

"Everything is designed to not create parity," he said of adding 12 inches to the arc. "It will cater to the big schools who can select rather than just recruit players."

The 3-point line will be extended from 19 feet, 9 inches to 20 feet, 9 inches in 2008-09 if the NCAA playing rules oversight committee approves the measure May 25.

"If I had a vote, which I don't, I would leave it the same," said Mike Rice, the newly named coach at Robert Morris. "If it's not broke, don't fix it. I'm a 'No' vote."

Pitt's Jamie Dixon, whose Panthers rank among the nation's elite programs, takes a different viewpoint than his counterparts at Duquesne and Robert Morris.

"I don't think it will make too much of a difference," Dixon said. "It was just a matter of time. We all knew this was coming. When I sent in my survey, I knew it [the line] was getting changed. I thought if they were going to move it, they should take it back to the international line."

The 3-point line has remained at 19-9 since its inception in 1987. The international line is 20-6 and the NBA line is 23-9 at the top of the key and 22 feet at its shortest point in the baseline corners. College basketball has experimented with the 20-6 line in some early-season exempt tournaments the past several seasons.

"We played with it when I was at Northeastern," said Everhart, who just completed his first season at Duquesne. "We tended not to take as many 3-pointers and were real cautious about who was shooting the 3s. We wanted only our dead-on shooters to take them. At 20-9, it becomes more of an unnatural shot for college kids who aren't as big or strong as the pro players."

College coaches, for the most part, consider 33 percent an acceptable percentage from 3-point territory because it translates to 50 percent for shots made from inside the arc. (A player who makes 4 of 12 of his 3-pointers is comparable to a player who is 6 of 12 on 2-point attempts.)

Duquesne's leading 3-point shooter this past season was 6-foot-6 freshman Robert Mitchell, the Atlantic 10 Conference rookie of the year who had team highs of 44 makes, 110 attempts and a .400 percentage. The Dukes were 239 of 722 for a .331 percentage and opponents were 234 of 553 for .421.

Robert Morris was led by Derek Coleman's 62 of 156 for .397. The Colonials were 200 of 590 for .339 compared to opponents' 207 of 581 for .356. Pitt's leader was Ronald Ramon, who made 74 of 154 for a .451 percentage. The Panthers were 229 of 599 for .382 and their opponents were 217 of 702 for .309.

"Shooting percentages will go down," Rice said. "I like the 19-9 because a lot more people from different positions are firing up 3s now. That makes the game a lot more interesting. If the line moves back a foot, only two or three guys on a team will be able to shoot 3-pointers.

"I think it will most affect teams like West Virginia, where John Beilein's teams made a living shooting 3s. We'll make sure we keep it [the 3-pointer] as an option in our offense because we hope to keep defenses honest."

Dixon said the foot is "a significant difference" but the players will "just have to get used to it."

Everhart would have been in favor of moving back the 3-point line had the rules committee also decided to widen the lane.

"The real flaw is they didn't widen the lane, too," he said. "I would never have voted [if I had a vote] for one or the other. Just moving back the line gives the more talented team even more advantages."

Dixon would like to see the rule committee experiment with the wider lane when the line is implemented.

"One has an affect on the other," he said. "We should play with both of them to see how it works."

The conventional wisdom is the 19-9 line is close enough to give teams that don't have quality interior people an opportunity with the 3-pointer to be competitive against bigger and stronger teams. With the line at 20-9, there will be fewer accurate 3-point shooters available and those who make them consistently will be priority recruits for the marquee schools.

"You're looking for shooters, as is," Dixon said. "I don't think it will change our recruiting that much."

The 20-9 line also will force teams to stretch their defenses to guard 3-point shooters, leaving the middle more open for strong post players to operate close to the basket.

Widening the lane would at least force the big guys to keep moving to avoid 3-second calls. The high-profile schools already have cornered the market on big guys who one day will be in the NBA so moving the line back without widening the lane will make it that much harder for mid-major teams to pull the upsets that put the madness into March during the NCAA tournament.

"This [moving the line] will change the face of recruiting," said Everhart, who has one scholarship to offer for 2007-08 and will concentrate this summer on recruits for 2008-09.

"One foot will make a huge difference so you have to find great shooters, not just good shooters. The premium will be placed on specialized shooters and there will be an emphasis placed on big guys who can dribble.

"It's really going to affect recruiting."