Talking with Jimmie: What if they had the 3-point arc earlier?

So thinking about the implementation of the three point shot, it made me wonder what Galesburg players before 1987 would have benefitted most if they had a three point line?

On the girls side, I would list Cookie Rosine, Lesa Moore, Amy Crisman, and Debbie Roberts as girls who would have benefitted from the arc.

To look at what boys players would have benefitted the most, I reached out to 10 former Galesburg players to ask them who they thought would have benefitted if they had an arc.

Fourteen players who played before 1987 were mentioned by at least two of these former Silver Streak players- Otis Cowan, Davie Lundstrom, Frank Dexter, Rick Callahan, Dale Kelley, Leon Luckett, Dave Wood, Zack Thiel, Ian Davies, Mike Campbell, Scott Kelley, Mark Makeever, Byron Thierry, and Eric Johnson.

With this information, I went to my Silver Streaks basketball expert, Jimmie Carr. Here is our conversation:

Jimmie– To be honest, very few of them really shot threes. The coaches were not going to have many of them shooting outside what is the arc today.

Massey- When I asked Dave Wood who would have benefitted, his reply was, “I know if I shot outside there, Thiel would have had my butt on the bench before I knew it.”

From what you just said and what Woody said, that is why when I read a newspaper account or hear players from the ‘60’s and ‘70’s who say they regularly shot from 25 feet, I am skeptical.

Jimmie– Yes, from the list up there, I would say a very few of them shot outside the arc but some of them if there had been an arc, there shot was good enough and they had the work ethic to have developed into three point shooters.

Massey- So would you agree while players like Makeever, Campbell, Kelley, Callahan are players who may never have shot outside the arc, they had the work ethic that if the arc had been there, they probably would have become good three point shooters? And there are probably dozens of other players that the same could be true of?

Jimmy– Absolutely. A great example is Otie Cowan. He hardly shot from outside in high school. We had Bumpy inside, it wouldn’t make sense to shoot a lot from outside. But when Otie went to Knox, he became a great outside scorer with range.

Massey- So who do you think would have benefitted the most if they had played with the three point arc?

Jimmie– I would pick out six of the players. The reason I pick those six is that with them, their shot never went south. I could shoot but there times that I would go cold. I don’t think the six I have in mind ever had much of a shooting drought.

I would group Leon Luckett, Otie Cowan, and Ralph Cannon into one group. They are guys who never took what is now a three while in high school, but their shots were pure. Ralph would step out on the baseline and he could not miss from 17-18 feet. Otie had an unusual shot that he developed because he was so small in grade school, but he developed unlimited range in college. Leon’s shot was just pure, he shot the same way eve

Massey- So who are the other three?

Jimmy– The other three actually did shoot from behind what is now the arc- Dale Kelley, Zack Thiel, and Eric Johnson. Eric had the greatest range of any Galesburg player. I am betting some of his threes were for sure college or pro threes. Zack also took deep threes as kind of a set shot, if they left him open. Zack was automatic vs. zones. Dale was different than Zack and Eric because he could take a three off the dribble. He is the one player who could create his own threes off the dribble. So all of them as high school players were shooting threes.

Massey- So late game, you need to set someone up to take a three, which of these guys do you set up?

Jimmie– That’s a tough one, it would be between Eric and Dale, but I would go with Dale. Dale was not just a good shooter, but he was confident and believed in himself, he would want to take the shot. And if he had to, he could get it off even if guarded. ry single time. If there had been an arc, they would have become great three point shooters.

Massey- Has the arc made the game better or worse?

Jimmy– Without a doubt, better game. It has forced players to become better shooters. But realize there were great shooters like Maravich and Oscar who would have been as good as anyone today. Can you imagine how many more points Pete Maravich would have had?

Massey- Maravich had 3,667 points in his career and averaged 44.5 ppg one year. Based on the number of shots he took and outside shots he took, some think he would have scored 1,000 more points in his three year career. If Maravich had made 10 threes per game, he would have averaged 55 ppg and scored around 4500 points for his career. And him making 10 threes would have been possible.

First To Make a Three

The first male or female Galesburg High School player to make a three was Joe Townsell Jr. in November of 1987. And things have never been quite the same since. Obviously whether it is looking at Pete Maravich or any of the earlier Galesburg players, we can only speculate, but it is fun to look back.

Career Threes– Ethan Meeker- 282 (2016)

Season Threes– Ian Dominque- 91 (2023)

Game Threes– John Watson- 8 (1991)

Career (State)– Matt Roth (Washington) 464- 2004-8

Season (State)– Zach Knobloch (Marengo) 167- 2014-5

Girls Basketball

Career Threes– Jess Howard- 378  2007-11

Season Threes– Jess Howard- 139. 2010-11

Game Threes– Jess Howard- 11.  2011