Following Duke' 83-79 loss at Wake Forest, a frustrated Jon Scheyer asked the question: "When are we going to ban court storming?" Minutes earlier, Kyle Filipowski was injured after he got caught in a sea of Wake Forest fans as they stormed the court at the final buzzer. Per video of the incident, a fan appeared to collide with the projected All-American and draft lottery pick as he tried to leave the floor. Filipowski's teammates and Duke staff surrounded him and had to carry him off the court.
The conversation about court storming is not new. In 2015, Bill Self got trapped in the rush to the court by Kansas State fans after Kansas lost to its in-state rival. In the same court storming, former KU forward Jamari Traylor got bumped. In 2018, West Virginia's Wesley Harris threw a punch at a Texas Tech fan who'd participated in a court storm. Two years ago, Boise State fans were tackled and pushed by security guards as they tried to storm the floor after their team sealed the Mountain West championship.
When it's safe and fun, court storming can be a proper celebration for a significant victory. But college basketball has yet to find a way to make it so every time. It's why Scheyer and others around the sport are advocating for an end to court storming. Filipowski's injury could be the catalyst that leads to effective change.
ESPN's Myron Medcalf, Jeff Borzello and Joe Lunardi discuss the biggest talking point of a busy Saturday slate, along with what happened around the rest of the sport.
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Duke's Kyle Filipowski helped off after Wake Forest fans storm the court
Kyle Filipowski appears to get injured during Wake Forest's court storm after the Demon Deacons beat Duke.
What will it take to see real solutions in addressing court storming? What could those solutions look like?
Myron Medcalf: It's important to note that schools and conferences are working to stop court storming. The SEC fine for court storming one time is $100,000. For the second offense, it's $250,000. For the third, $500,000. ACC schools do not have a fine structure or disciplinary measures in place for when fans rush the court, according to information provided to ESPN. Each school manages its own events. There are some conference requirements for keeping officials and visiting teams safe and helping them off the floor. At a minimum, schools should be fined a significant amount if they fail to protect the visiting team before their fans rush the court. And college basketball rules have to adjust to that reality.
Whatever is necessary to allow a team to leave the floor safely, let's do it. There should be a court-storming timeout that automatically occurs with a second or two on the clock if fans might storm the court. Then, the opposing team exits. Yes, it's difficult to do this in a close game. If a team wins on a buzzer-beater, it's hard to enforce those precautions. But we've seen too much drama around court stormings at this point.
Increase the fines, and the next step will involve penalizing students who participate before the opposing team and staff are safe. Ban them from games, depending on their actions. We just can't have another court storm that leaves players in a vulnerable spot. No matter what.
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Duke coach calls for court storming to be banned
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer explains why he wants to see court storming banned.
Jeff Borzello: Fining the schools is a good start. If the response to demanding an increase in security around the floor is that it's too expensive, forcing a school to pay a quarter-million or half-million dollars per court storm is a worthy response. And I think an increase in security is the logical next step, since no schools -- and no fans -- want to move students further away from the court. Having students in the lower sections and front rows is one of the best things about college basketball; it's part of the home-court environment.
But if incidents continue to happen during court stormings, some schools might have to take drastic steps. Banning court storms is a solution, but it's hard to achieve without the aforementioned steps (increased security, penalizing individuals, etc.) working in the first place.
Joe Lunardi: At the risk of stepping outside my lane, the appeal of court storming -- no matter how fun -- simply isn't worth the inherent risks. Does anyone actually buy a ticket with that in mind? Or, for that matter, to tear down a goalpost in college football? There have been catastrophic injuries from the latter, and it's only a matter of time before the same happens in basketball. Storm the court and you lose student ticket privileges, period. There could be no worse punishment than to having to sit with the grown-ups.
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