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Originally Posted by rainmaker
ALL areas of the country did at one time. Different states switched at different times. THe last was Iowa, in 1988 or 1989. Only because girls complained that they weren't getting college scholarships.
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Iowa
was the last hold out. At least as far back as the 70's, larger schools were playing 5 on 5 basketball. When I graduated in 1992, the small school I went to was still playing "6 on 6" (we didn't refer to it as "3 on 3"). IIRC, they played 6 on 6 one more season, and starting with the 93/94 season all schools in Iowa played regular basketball.
Girls sports in Iowa are still run by a different governing body, and there are some slight rules variations (they move everyone up one space on free throws, and the possession arrow changes once the ball is handed to the thrower, for example), but far fewer variations than there used to be. Only girls coaches are allowed the coaching box; but I hear from Junker there's talk of eliminating that. There's been a move of late to merge the organizations' rule sets.
6 on 6 had some weird rules for those who are used to the "regular" variety of hoops. A player could only dribble two times (as in two bounces), more than that and it was an illegal dribble. A defender could not slap the ball when it was being held by the opponent; unless the offensive player was in her free throw lane. The downward motion of the start of the dribble (as opposed to the actual release of the ball) needed to be started prior to the pivot foot leaving the floor.
With only three offensive players for each team, scoring averages for those who did play were significantly higher.
And yes, one of the key reasons for the final decision was scholarships that were being lost out on.