Duke's Kyle Filipowski holds his bloody nose as he leaves the field during the second half against Wake Forest. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Jon Scheyer wasted no time Saturday afternoon in reigniting the most contentious debate in college basketball.
“When are we going to ban court storming?” the second-year Duke coach asked reporters just minutes after Kyle Filipowski had no time to escape a tidal wave of charging Wake Forest fans following the Demon Deacons' surprising 83-79 victory.
On the surface, you might think that the sight of Filipowski wincing in pain while his teammates helped him up from the ground might be enough to spark a serious discussion. Filipowski, a projected first-team All-American and first-round draft pick, is one of the most recognizable players in men's college basketball. Scheyer initially told reporters that the 7-foot-tall man suffered a sprained ankle during the court rush. Filipowski later clarified that it was his knee that was injured.
And yet, recent history suggests that Wake Forest fans attacking Filipowski won't bring about meaningful change. The uproar after each new court storm eventually dies down. Then, inevitably, administrators decide that the fun outweighs the risks.
Nothing changed in 2004 when high school senior Joe Kay suffered injuries in a courthouse storm that left him partially paralyzed and prevented him from playing volleyball for Stanford.
Nothing changed in 2013, when North Carolina State forward CJ Leslie had to carry a fellow student to safety after he was thrown from his wheelchair during a courthouse storm.
Nothing changed as New Mexico State players exchanged blows with the charging fans. Or when Ohio State's Jared Sullinger accused a Wisconsin fan of spitting on him. Or when unruly Kansas State fans taunted and physically examined Kansas players. Or when a Des Moines Register columnist broke his tibia and fibula when he was thrown to the ground.
Not even warnings from some of the sport's most prominent figures resonated. It was ignored earlier this season when Purdue's Matt Painter warned, “Something's going to happen” after a storm at his team's expense. And when Iowa's Caitlin Clark said last month that a cellphone-carrying Ohio State fan who was with colliding with her “could have caused a pretty serious injury.”
The sad reality is that meaningful change requires more than just a narrow decision. It takes someone to suffer life-changing injuries like Kay, but on national television.
Filipowski is lucky that nothing worse happened to him. Wake Forest seemed dangerously ill-prepared for a court storm, considering the Demon Deacons would be facing eighth-ranked Duke.
ESPN just showed a new angle on the court rushing at Wake Forest that injured Duke's Kyle Filipowski. I can clearly see where he hurts his knee as a fan taunts him as he runs toward midfield. Incredible. pic.twitter.com/ABAsKC2kTI
— Kyle Boone (@kyletheboone) February 24, 2024
The students rushed to the floor before the final clock reached double zeros and soon swarmed Filipowski. Filipowski pushed one out of the way, apparently to protect himself. Another pushed the Duke star into the background. A third collided with him at full speed, sending him spinning. Only then did a Duke employee reach him and pull him to safety.
“I absolutely feel like it was personal, you know, definitely intentional.” Filipowski told CBS affiliate WFMY in Greensboro after the game. “There's no reason why they see a big guy like me trying to work his way off the court and they can't just work around me. “There's no excuse for that.”
The simplest solution schools need to take to avoid incidents like this is to be better prepared than Wake Forest. Hire more security guards when Duke comes to town. Create a plan to ensure player safety when facing a top 10 opponent or a hated rival.
Furthermore, there is no solution that will satisfy everyone, no easy solution that will prevent serious injuries without sacrificing the spontaneity and fun that sets college basketball apart from other sports.
The best option might be to delay storming the field long enough to allow opposing players and coaches time to leave the field after a big upset or buzzer-beater. For this to work, there would need to be a significant deterrent for fans arriving on the pitch early.
The SEC currently fines schools $100,000 for a first court assault offense, $250,000 for a second offense, and $500,000 each for subsequent offenses. Of course, that didn't stop LSU fans from flocking to the field earlier this week after the Tigers' win over Kentucky.
Schools could actually increase security if fines were higher or if conferences borrowed from European soccer and made teams play home games in empty arenas as punishment. Or conferences could even identify individual fans and punish them by revoking season tickets or threatening expulsion or even prison time.
Court storming may be a beloved college basketball tradition, but no tradition is worth preserving if it will inevitably lead to an ugly scene or a brutal injury one day.
Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes said Saturday: “I don’t like court rushing. Never have. I've been there as a trainer before. You just don’t feel safe.”