Basketball Court Dimensions

by Samantha Gibbs Blogger

So what are the Basketball Court Dimensions? Let’s look deeper into some statistics.

The main things that differ on college basketball courts and high-school hoop courts are simple. The college courts tend to run at 94 feet long, while high-school courts are closer to 84 feet.

Even smaller than those two are Jr high courts, these were typically around 74 feet. As you can see these numbers are all over the place, some of the reasons have to do with finances, and size of players.

The three-point line is about 20 feet on both Jr high and High School. Basketball courts on college courts tend to differ, usually around 21 feet though.

Why are the NCAA courts featuring a smaller 3pt line compared to the professional courts?

NCAA courts don’t have as far of a three-point line as the NBA. For some reason it just is, maybe the players aren’t as good at shooting.

Maybe they want higher scoring games since the players can’t shoot. Maybe they want to encourage 3 point shooting? There are so many reasons they could be doing this, however, none of them are concrete.

How far is half-court

Considering the actual distance of the hoop, the half court marker is around 43 feet away from the hoop. This is definitely an interesting fact to keep on you!

The History of Basketball Explained

The history of basketball is quite an interesting one full of twists and turns. The first rough version of the sport was quite different from the version we know now, and this was most shown to us by the gear that was once used. The first “basketball” wasn’t even a basketball, it was a soccer ball which was difficult to use.

The first basketballs made were brownish and made of different material than the now orange ball that’s so broadly used, it wasn’t introduced until the 1950s. Can you imagine that? The game used to be played on peach baskets, you weren’t even allowed to dunk, it was against the rules!

The high level of dribbling seen by basketball enthusiasts now didn’t exist yet. Dribbling wasn’t initially part of basketball, and the bounce pass was the only time the floor really touched the basketball. When dribbling was eventually introduced, it was under the strict rules that you had to slap the ball on top and weren’t allowed to “carry” which players do all the time now. It wasn’t until around 1950, when the contour of the ball enhanced, that dribbling became a leading part of the game.

The 1st official game of basketball reflects just how far the game has come over a small time. It was played on January 20, 1892, at the YMCA park district in Albany, New York. The match featured 9-players and finished with a score of 1-0. It was much harder to score with all the ancient rules. The match was won on a 25-foot shot on a court almost half the size of a present-day professional court. Can you imagine how boring that game was?

Basketball is a sport played both inside and outside, by individuals of all ages, and backgrounds now. The game is enormous worldwide, with nations like Argentina, China, Spain, Germany, and Italy. It remains extremely popular in America obviously as well. This game is only getting bigger and more prominent now, the global world is now paying attention to the greatest sport ever made, Basketball!