The NCAA screwed up big time, allowing multiple games of the women’s college basketball championship tournament to take place on a Portland court with one three-point line significantly shorter than the other one, the NCAA said in a statement.
The NCAA discovered the discrepancy Sunday, prior to tip-off between the North Carolina State Wolfpack and the Texas Longhorns in their Elite Eight matchup. The court had already been used in the regional semi-finals on Friday and Saturday, according to ESPN.
“The NCAA was notified today that the three-point lines on the court at Moda Center in Portland are not the same distance,” Lynn Holman, the NCAA vice president of Women’s Basketball, said in a statement.
Texas Vs. NC State Highlights
The NCAA notified Texas and NC State’s coaches, who reportedly elected to play the game on the mismatched court rather than wait an hour to fix it.
The NCAA noted that the lines were drawn by a third-party vendor. “While the NCAA’s vendor has apologized for the error, we will investigate how this happened in the first place. The NCAA is working now to ensure the accuracy of all court markings for future games,” Holman stated.
“The NCAA regrets the error was not discovered sooner,” Holman concluded.
The NCAA has updated its initial statement regarding the 3-point line issue in Portland: pic.twitter.com/AfRz03R5nY
— Grace Raynor (@gmraynor) March 31, 2024
Oh, you regret it? Yeah, no duh.
Talk about bush league. If the NCAA wants us to care about women’s sports, they should probably start by showing us they actually care, too. (RELATED: College Basketball Team Goes An Unbelievable Amount Of Time Without Scoring A Point)
“Well, I hate to say this, but I have a lot of colleagues that would say, ‘Only in women’s basketball,'” Texas coach Vic Schaefer said. “I mean, it’s a shame, really, that it even happened. But it is what it is.”
Texas Postgame Presser
Schaefer is 1,000% correct. You would not see an error of this magnitude in men’s basketball. With the explosion of sports betting there’s simply too much money on the line. A mistake like this on the men’s side and friggin’ heads would roll.
PORTLAND, OREGON: Saniya Rivers #22 of the NC State Wolfpack shoots against the Texas Longhorns in the Elite 8 round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Moda Center on March 31, 2024 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OREGON: DeYona Gaston #5 of the Texas Longhorns shoots against River Baldwin #1 of the NC State Wolfpack during the second half in the Elite 8 round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Moda Center on March 31, 2024 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OREGON: Mimi Collins #2 of the NC State Wolfpack and Taylor Jones #44 of the Texas Longhorns reach for a rebound in the Elite 8 round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Moda Center on March 31, 2024 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
One tidbit I found interesting: The misdrawn line was significantly shorter than the regulation 22 feet and 1.75 inches from the top of the key to the basket, NC State coach Wes Moore told ESPN. According to ESPN Stats and Info, teams actually shot worse from the closer line. Teams shot 23-79, or 29% from the shorter line and 29-87 from the regulation line, good for 33%.
PORTLAND, OREGON: Aziaha James #10 of the NC State Wolfpack celebrates after cutting down the net after defeating the Texas Longhorns 76-66 in the Elite 8 round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Moda Center on March 31, 2024 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Either way, this type of blunder is totally amateur hour. The NCAA as a unit makes money hand over fist. While most of the revenue comes from men’s sports, there has been a massive marketing push to make women’s games, particularly basketball, more popular.
Despite this, the association apparently didn’t think it was paramount to conduct any oversight with the vendor they contracted to paint the court’s lines. It’s hard to get jazzed for women’s sports when their own league seems to view them as an afterthought.