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VCU has history of capitalizing on 3-pointers

Fred Jeter | 12/17/2020, 6 p.m.
Players, even coaches, come and go. But one thing seems constant regarding Virginia Commonwealth University hoops— the 3-pointer is a ...
Virginia Commonwealth University guard Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland, No. 5 jersey, is open to launch another 3-pointer at a recent game.

Players, even coaches, come and go. But one thing seems constant regarding Virginia Commonwealth University hoops— the 3-pointer is a Rams center-ring attraction.

Since the 2009-2010 season, VCU has made 2,951 3-pointers compared to 2,183 for the team’s opponents.

That’s a difference of 768 three-balls, accounting for a jaw- dropping 2,304 point advantage. With that a key factor, VCU has ranked among the NCAA Division I’s most successful programs for a decade.

With the annual 3-point harvest, no wonder VCU was long ago nicknamed “3CU.” This season offers more of the same.

In scorching Old Dominion University 77-54 last Saturday at the Siegel Center, VCU swished seven 3-pointers to the Monarchs’ three.

On the season, VCU Coach Mike Rhoades’ 5-2 squad has 50 triples compared to the other side’s 36.

The leading bombardier the past two seasons has been Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland, a willowy 6-foot-3, 175-pound sophomore from Wilmington, Del.

Hyland, who leads the club with a 17-point average, is 22 for 58 behind the semicircle this season, or 38 percent. Hyland netted seven 3-pointers while scoring 30 points in the Rams’ Dec. 9 win over North Carolina A&T State University.

Overall, VCU has nailed 34 percent of its threebies this season while holding its opponents to 28 percent.

The “3CU” tag began with Coach Shaka Smart in 2009 and has continued through the Coach Will Wade and Rhoades eras. Not coincidentally, Coaches Wade and Rhoades were assistants under Coach Smart.

Since 2009-10, VCU has had an advantage in threes every season but 2017, when it was out 3-pointed 202-199.

The team’s best year from the distance was the NCAA Final Four season in 2010-11, when the Rams had 339 3-pointers to 222 for its opponents.

The Rams’ all-time 3-point ace is Melvin Johnson with 285 from 2012 to 2016.

The best single season marksman was Troy Daniels with 124 in 2012-13. Daniels also is the one-game bell ringer with 11 3-pointers against East Tennessee in 2013.

Going back further, before Coach Smart brought “havoc” to Broad Street, Bo Jones out of Richmond’s Huguenot High School made 183 3-pointers from 1998 to 2001.

The NCAA adopted the 3-pointer in 1986 with a distance of 19 feet, nine inches. The arc moved to 20 feet, nine inches in 2008 and to its current 22 feet, 13⁄4 inches a year ago.

Others may have found the new arc out of their range, but for “3CU,” distance doesn’t seem to matter.