Orange County Prep Review : Three-Pointer Kit Does a Booming Business

Richard Vanderloo’s telephone hasn’t stopped ringing since the National Federation of State High School Athletic Assns. two weeks ago adopted the three-point shot for boys’ and girls’ basketball games.

The federation accepted the 19-foot 9-inch distance used the past season on the collegiate level. The rule applies to varsity, junior varsity, sophomore and freshman games and all playoff competition for the 1987-88 season.

Vanderloo, an athletic director at East High School in Sioux City, Iowa, specializes in the three-point shot. More specifically, Vanderloo’s family company, The Three-Point Arc Co., sells a kit that outlines the three-point area.

A player standing outside the arc earns three points for a successful shot. The arc measures 19-feet 9-inches from the center of the basket to the outside of the two-inch line, which begins at the baseline and continues above the top of the key before returning to the baseline.

Vanderloo sells the kit for $51.95. He estimates there are about 7,500 basketball floors across the country that bear his patented arc.

“I was on the rules committee when Iowa became the first state to adopt the three-point shot for high school competition in 1982,” Vanderloo said. “Once it was accepted, I started wondering how everyone was going to put the line on their floors.”

Vanderloo devised a kit that included a dispenser, tape and installation instructions. The directions call for measurements from standard points on the floor for consistency.

“I tried to devise something that school officials could put down that was inexpensive and easy to do,” he said. “Two people can do it in an hour.”

Vanderloo suggests taping the arc instead of painting a permanent line, for two reasons: First, when varnish is periodically stripped off a court surface, a painted line can be nicked easily. Second, he thinks there’s a good chance the distance for the three-point shot may be changed in the near future.

“I can see the colleges changing the distance, and it seems the high schools tend to follow the lead of the college game,” Vanderloo said.

Last season, Freeway and Sunset league schools used the three-point shot on an experimental basis. Three other leagues--Angelus, Garden Grove and South Coast--had voted to adopt the shot before the federation made its announcement.

“I was absolutely shocked when I heard the national federation had voted for the shot,” Vanderloo said. “Funny thing is, I originally voted against it here in Iowa. Since then, I’ve had two sons play the game with the shot and they love it. The fans love it.”

It certainly hasn’t hurt business, either. Vanderloo had orders from high schools in Oklahoma, Minnesota and Pennsylvania that had voted to adopt the shot before the national federation made its announcement.

“I would have liked to have seen four or five states adopt the shot each year,” he said. “Just today, I had calls from California, Illinois, Nebraska and Alabama. We’ve got too much business.”

Thanks, but no thanks: Edison High shotputter Doug Blanchard, who had a seasonal best throw of 57-feet 3 1/2-inches Saturday night at the Arcadia Invitational, said he received a telephone call last week from Dixon Farmer, the San Diego State track coach.

Farmer wanted to know if Blanchard would be interested in a scholarship to compete for the Aztecs’ track team next season. Blanchard, a Times all-county offensive lineman, informed Farmer he already had a scholarship. He signed to play for San Diego State’s football team in February.

On the mend: Capistrano Valley baseball Coach Bob Zamora is trying to make the best of some very lean times. His roster, beset by injuries, lately has consisted of only 10 players. Two current injuries are to catcher Mike Pierce, who broke his hand trying to field a foul tip, and pitcher Brian Walker, who suffered an attack of appendicitis.

What’s more, a Southern Section rule forbids junior varsity players from moving onto or off the roster once the second round of league games has begun. Zamora expects to have Pierce back soon, though, and Walker is expected to return in three weeks.

“I’ll have pleasant problems then,” Zamora said.

But isn’t putting together a starting lineup tough?

“No,” the coach says. “You don’t have anyone on the bench wanting to go into the ballgame, and everybody’s parents are happy. It’s an ideal situation.”

All-star dilemma: Ocean View forward Ricky Butler had originally declined an invitation to play in an all-star basketball game last weekend in Denver.

Butler, who has signed with the University of Kansas, was one of 15 seniors from across the country selected to compete against a group of Colorado all-stars in two games. Game promoters paid for all expenses for four days.

Butler also was playing for the Seahawks’ volleyball team, and under Southern Section rules, would be ineligible for the volleyball team if he played in the all-star game.

“Ricky felt he had earned the chance to play in some type of all-star basketball game,” said Jim Harris, Ocean View basketball coach. “But he didn’t want to let his (volleyball) teammates down by quitting.

“He also was scheduled to take his Scholastic Aptitude Test on Saturday, so he decided not to go.”

But when game promoters arranged for Butler to take the SAT in Colorado, Butler changed his mind, quit the volleyball team and played in the all-star games.

Prep Notes

Mater Dei and Edison were the big winners at The Times’ basketball awards ceremony Sunday at the Hilton Hotel in Anaheim. Center LeRon Ellis was named the Player of the Year and his coach, Gary McKnight, was named Coach of the Year for the boys. Center Kristi Smith was the girls’ Player of the Year and her coach, Dave White, was named girls’ Coach of the Year. George Raveling, USC basketball coach, was the guest speaker. . . . Defending Southern Section golf champion Esperanza, Huntington Beach and Loara are among the 11 high schools entered in the Western States Invitational beginning today at the Rancho Canada Golf Course in Monterey. Top individuals scheduled to compete in the two-day tournament include Joey Sugar and Mark Rylance of Esperanza, and Kent Wiese, Brett Brummett and Matt Baugh of Huntington Beach.