Celebrating with your favorite basketball team after an upset victory can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, the motive behind fans storming the court after a win is understandable. However, it is simply not worth doing so when taking into account the consequences that follow.
It is not far-fetched to say that the floodgates opened at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Saturday following Duke’s upset loss against Wake Forest.
Following an 83-79 victory against the eighth-ranked Duke Blue Devils, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons celebrated alongside their fans who rushed the court with mere seconds left in the game.
It is protocol for the opposing team to head to their bench before the fans storm the court. This prevents the away team’s players from being caught in the heat of the storm while still on the court. However, that was not what happened on Saturday night for Duke’s center Kyle Filipowski.
Filipowski was still on the court when fans immediately rushed in to celebrate with the Demon Deacon players. It was at this time that a fan collided with Filipowski, knocking him to the ground and ultimately injuring his knee.
Other Duke players noticed Filipowski on the floor and had to carry him out of the court.
This court-storming incident happened just one month after Iowa Hawkeyes star player Caitlin Clark collided with a fan who stormed the court after a loss to Ohio State.
It is very important to note that there are consequences for storming the court. The SEC fine for court-storming is $100,000. Should it reoccur, that amount goes up to $250,000, which then becomes $500,000 on the third occasion.
I agree with the fines as consequences, but I believe that collegiate-level sports should also maintain and enforce a safer protocol for their events.
A good first step could be to implement a harsher punishment toward the fans who rush the court. This could be an additional fine or even suspension from attending games.
A more serious punishment should be issued to the students of the team who rush the court as well. They should not only be fined but also be permanently banned from attending games.
Jon Scheyer, Duke’s head coach, has called upon the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) to implement a permanent ban on court-storming and demanded that they do not wait until the end of the season to resolve the issue.
I believe once one coach steps up to address this issue, the domino pieces will fall forward and other ACC head coaches will follow suit with the court-storming ban.
Court-storming is a bad idea, but I can still see it remaining as a common form of celebration at the collegiate level until stricter rules prohibiting court-storming are actually implemented. Until then, I do not predict much change regarding this issue within the next few years.
To maintain a safe environment for fans and most importantly the players, the ACC and other conferences across the NCAA need to address this court-storming behavior. Change needs to happen now and not be swept under the rug before another tragic event occurs.