Got shooters?

Just in case they didn't already occupy a prominent place on the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team's off-season shopping list, the NCAA gave the Rainbow Warriors another reason to put them there yesterday.

With the announcement that the 3-point line figures to move back a foot for the 2008-09 season, accurate, reliable shooters are now at a higher premium across the land. And they are about to become even more so for the 'Bows, who lost their two best, percentage-wise, in Matt Lojeski and Dominic Waters, after last season and will soon say goodbye to their next two, Matt Gibson and Bobby Nash, following the next campaign.

In the changing of the guard — not to mention the forwards and centers — at UH, shooters will hold a key to how fast the 'Bows can reload and how soon they can once again become Western Athletic Conference title and NCAA Tournament berth contenders.

Not that this has escaped new head coach Bob Nash, of course. But what the NCAA men's basketball rules committee's decision to take the 3-point line back a step from 19 feet, 9 inches to 20 feet, 9 inches, bypassing even that of the international game (20 feet, 6 inches), does is add a sense of urgency for the 'Bows who are playing catch-up in their recruiting campaign.

The naming of Nash to succeed Riley Wallace on April 13 came two days after everybody else in the country had gotten off the recruiting mark for national letter of intent day, the first day in the spring that recruits could sign binding commitments. The announcement of UH's first recruits to fill four expected openings could come as soon as next week.

Still, you've got to like moving the 3-point line back for what it is likely to mean for the college game and how it fits in with what the 'Bows want to do. But shoving the 3-point arc back closer to the NBA line (23 feet, 9 inches), it figures to open up the floor and, hence, defenses more for teams that can take advantage of it.

That's good news in the brave new world of 'Bow basketball, where shooting guards may not be the be all and end all they have sometimes been. Nash suggests UH may not live and die by the jump shot quite as much as it sometimes has. That while bombs-away shooting will have its place, players will be expected to drive more, too.

"We don't just want to be a jump-shooting team," said Nash, who may target European players more. "I think that's what we have been in the past. We want guys who can also get to the basket, not just jump-shooters. I think teams that win are (the) teams that get to the free throw line and that's penetration. When you start to penetrate, now you can look to those deep corner and wing guys that get more wide-open looks."

This first expansion of the 3-point arc in 20 years holds the promise of both a challenge and potential opportunity for Nash and the 'Bows as they enter a new era.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.