It’s as much a tradition as buzzer-beaters and March Madness, but could storming the court soon be a thing of the past?
It’s a debate that was reignited this past weekend after Duke University star center Kyle Filipowski was injured when fans stormed the court on Feb. 24 after Wake Forest University beat him and the Blue Devils, ranked No. 8 in the country at the time.
A fan inside Wake Forest’s Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum collided with him, injuring his knee and prompting others to help Filipowski limp back to the locker room.
“When are we going to ban court-storming? When are we going to ban that?” Duke head coach Jon Scheyer told reporters after the game.
“How many times does a player have to get into something where they get punched or they get pushed or they get taunted right in their face? It’s a dangerous thing.”
Wake Forest apologized for the incident.
“Although our event management staff and security had rehearsed postgame procedures to protect the visiting team and officials, we clearly must do better,” athletic director John Currie said in a statement.
Safety concerns were also raised in January when University of Iowa star Caitlin Clark was knocked down by a fan who ran onto the court after Ohio State University beat the Hawkeyes.
“Kind of scary — could’ve caused a pretty serious injury to me and knocked the wind out of me,” she told reporters about the incident.
These are not isolated incidents, either.
A Tulane University fan made contact with a player from the University of Memphis last month. The Southeastern Conference fined the University of South Carolina $100,000 after fans rushed the court following the Gamecocks’ victory over the University of Kentucky last month.
The SEC also fined Louisiana State University the same amount after fans stormed the court earlier this month following a win over Kentucky.
The NCAA does not have regulations for storming the court, or rushing the field in football, when excited fans have been known to tear down goalposts in the joy of celebrating a big win, but the SEC adopted new rules in 2023 governing field and court access to fans.
“The policy states that ‘institutions shall limit access to competition areas to participating student-athletes, coaches, officials, support personnel and properly credentialed or authorized individuals at all times,’” the conference said in the statement announcing the fines for both South Carolina and LSU.
“‘For the safety of participants and spectators alike, at no time before, during or after a contest may spectators enter the competition area.’”