It isn't one of those dates that jumps to mind, even for the most devoted of college basketball fans. Even on its silver anniversary, it went virtually ignored.
On Nov. 29, 1980, in Reid Gym on the campus of Western Carolina in Cullowhee, N.C., Ronnie Carr made the first 3-pointer in college basketball history. Think how the game has changed since that line first appeared on a court. From strategy to broadcasting vernacular, the 3-point shot has become as much a part of the game as the dunk, the zone and the shot clock.
The night Carr made history, the line was 22 feet from the basket and the Southern Conference had volunteered to try it out for the 1980-81 season.
The Catamounts were playing Middle Tennessee State that night and the 3-point line really wasn't that big a deal in pregame chatter. Carr took the first shot from behind the line less than 2 minutes into the game. He made the first 3 on his next attempt, with 16:09 left. The 23-footer went through the net at 7:04 p.m.
``I wasn't concentrating on that even though it was part of my game and even though we were briefed on it and the magnitude of it,'' Carr said Wednesday, a day after his alma mater honored him in a ceremony for that long jumper 25 years ago.
Representatives of the Naismith Hall of Fame were there to document the moment. The ball is still on display in Springfield, Mass. Carr missed his two other 3-point attempts that night in Western Carolina's 77-70 victory. Larry Caldwell, Carr's teammate, and Rick Campbell of Middle Tennessee both made a 3 during the game. But Carr was first and he's proud of it.
``I give three or four interviews a year about it,'' said Carr, who was involved in a serious auto accident before his senior year. He served as a student assistant coach that season and received the ``Most Courageous Athlete'' award from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. He was still drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in the 10th round.
``I am always giving talks about overcoming the accident and still getting drafted,'' said Carr, who works for his alma mater. ``People want me to speak for inspiration and motivation. I consider it a thrill and an honor.''
So what does the man who hit the first 3 six years before it became official think of the current line at 19-9?
``I think to make it a real special shot, I wouldn't be opposed to moving it back,'' Carr said. ``I'm so grateful to be a part of it. It changed the very makeup of basketball and did more to change the structure of the game than anything else in history.''
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PLAYING SMALL: Trent Johnson has been forced to go with a small lineup at Stanford early this season. As far as the Cardinal's second-year coach can tell, he's not the only one.
``From what I've watched, a lot of people across the country are playing small,'' he said. ``We're going to have to play small at times. Just because you're 6-foot-9 or 6-11 doesn't mean you can't play small.''
Johnson's team fell out of the AP Top 25 after a season-opening loss to UC Irvine, dropping from its preseason spot at No. 13. With Matt Haryasz as Stanford's only experienced big man, Johnson is having to experiment with various lineups - sometimes even using Dan Grunfeld down low and Chris Hernandez as the shooting guard as opposed to running the point.
If the Cardinal - who had their string of 10 straight trips to the NCAA tournament's second round snapped last March - keep playing well, they could be back in the Top 25 soon. Stanford beat Cal Poly 82-58 on Monday night.
``There's not a magical button,'' Johnson said. ``I think we have all the necessary ingredients to be a solid basketball team.''
Johnson believes his players were overconfident heading into their game with UC Irvine, an embarrassing 79-63 defeat in which the Cardinal were missing Haryasz.
``Injuries and what we don't have are not going to be excuses for why we didn't play good basketball,'' Johnson said.
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TWO QUICK: In a season to forget, it wasn't hard to recall all of St. Bonaventure's wins in 2004-05. There was the one over Alcorn State on Dec. 29 and the one over Rhode Island on Feb. 12. The Bonnies finished 2-26.
Win No. 2 came much earlier this season for third-year coach Anthony Solomon, about 2 1/2 months earlier.
St. Bonaventure beat Canisius 77-55 on Nov. 26 to start the season with two victories in three games.
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TOUGH TICKET: Tickets are so scarce for No. 6 Gonzaga's visit to No. 18 Washington on Sunday night that Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth doesn't have one.
``If I go, then someone else doesn't get to go,'' Roth said during the week. ``A lot of our important people want to be there.''
Gonzaga fans are the ones really clamoring for tickets since the Bulldogs have had all the success lately in the in-state rivalry.
The Huskies hold a 28-13 series lead but have lost seven straight to the Zags - including all three since Lorenzo Romar took over as coach in Seattle in 2002. Gonzaga has won three straight games on Washington's home court.
``If only one side is having success and the other side doesn't, it isn't much of a rivalry,'' Romar said, ``which puts it on us.''
He said he'd like to see Washington-Gonzaga become the Pacific Northwest equivalent of Xavier-Cincinnati or eventually even Kentucky-Louisville - fun, ultra-competitive, in-state grudge matches between non-conference rivals, often with national ramifications.
But, he added, ``We have to do our part.''
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LEON RETURNS: Leon Powe took the ball on the break and made a layup instead of going for another dunk. To California coach Ben Braun, it was a sign of how much his star power forward matured during a 629-day span between games as he recovered from left knee surgery and a foot injury.
``He said, 'I was too tired to dunk it anyway,''' Braun recalled of their chat. ``It's a good sign to see somebody play to exhaustion. That's what we want to do.''
Powe matched his career high with 27 points and had 10 rebounds in 31 minutes of a 70-52 win over San Jose State in his return last Wednesday. He had missed Cal's first four games this season with a stress fracture in his right foot.
``I had a little bounce in my step,'' Powe said of his excitement. ``I was hoping I could help my teammates out. I've got to do a better job moving the ball. It's just a blessing to be out there.''
Braun expects Powe, the Pac-10 freshman of the year and the league's rebounding leader two seasons ago, to get his teammates more involved this season.
``It's interesting, a lot of the time the focus will be on Leon and his point production and his rebound production,'' Braun said. ``It's good to see Leon come back there with his enthusiasm, his effort, his energy.''
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AP Sports Writers Janie McCauley in San Francisco and Gregg Bell in Seattle contributed to this report.