After Wake Forest upset No. 8 Duke Feb. 25 at home, the Demon Deacon fans, naturally, stormed the court in celebration. One problem, though: Duke’s leading scorer and rebounder, Kyle Filipowski, had to be helped off the court after colliding with a spectator at the immediate conclusion of the Feb. 25 contest. Thus, the outrage and debating began.
Those opposed to court storming in college basketball have a valid argument – this isn’t the first time, nor will it be the last if the status quo continues that a fan has run into a player after a game. Iowa star women’s basketball player Caitlyn Clark – who is probably already the greatest women’s college basketball player ever – had the wind knocked out of her Jan. 21 after colliding with an Ohio State fan after the Hawkeyes were upset by the Buckeyes.
There were conversations after Clark’s fall that perhaps court storming is something that should be done away with, but the prevailing thought – at least on social media – was that Clark not only initiated the contact but also flopped on her way down, as if to draw a foul during a game. Strange. Not the hill I would have died on.
And now some of those same people are blaming Filipowski, saying that he initiated the contact that led to him limping off the court, assisted by Duke trainers, Saturday. You can agree with the idea of court storming or you can disagree, but that is a bad faith argument. You can’t blame the player in that situation. It’s Thunderdome, chaos when the home team pulls off an upset victory. What’s the player supposed to do?
ESPN’s Jay Bilas, one of the most respected voices in the sport of college basketball, said on First Take the Monday after that court storming should be banned, and the best way to accomplish this goal was to cite and charge every single court-storming fan after a game.
“Court stormings will stop the next day,” he said.
While Bilas often provides level-headed, well thought out analysis, this one missed the mark in my eyes. Now, if the NCAA does decide to ban court stormings and the fans resist, then that could be a cause for following Bilas’ advice. But we’re not there yet, and, hopefully, we never get there.
Injuries should never come from a celebration, much less from fans entering the sacred playing space of these athletes. But I’m not willing to call for court storming to be outlawed. I’ll rarely side against the fans in matters like these, but I agree that measures need to be implemented to ensure that players such as Filipowski and Clark can safely exit the court without fear or worry of being trampled like Mufasa.
Barrett Sallee, a podcast host most recently with CBS Sports, brought up an idea that I believe has some credence.
“Make it widely known to fans before the game and during the game that they will be allowed on the playing surface after a designated period of time that will allow players to exit,” he said on X (Twitter) last week. He likened his proposal to how Clemson handles football games.
On one hand, this opens the door for fans to enter the court after every game, which would be tedious and a pain for staff and administrators at the universities. But is it a necessary headache? It may be. After all, field storming is technically banned in college football, but the fans still do it anyway, even if the penalty is a hefty fine towards the university. A fine won’t stop fans from entering the hardwood just like it hasn’t stopped fans from entering the gridiron.
Court storming is one of the best traditions and visuals in college basketball. It’s another reason why college sports differ from their professional counterparts. If there are announcements made ahead of time that fans will not be permitted to hop the barricades until a certain amount of time after the game, then punishments can be levied towards those who are too eager.
Compromise is the name of the game, and it’s something we should utilize to ensure player safety while also keeping one of the things that makes the sport great.
