Duke star Kyle Filipowski sprained his ankle Saturday, his coach said, after Wake Forest fans stormed the court following the Demon Deacons’ 83-79 win over the eighth-ranked Blue Devils.
Despite being unranked, the Demon Deacons were actually favored in the game.
But Vegas lines don’t necessarily matter when it comes to court storming. An unranked team beat a conference rival ranked in the nation’s top 10.
It was a situation ripe for fans storming the court.
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Wake Forest students storm the court after the Demon Deacons beat the Duke Blue Devils at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. (Cory Knowlton/USA Today Sports)
Considering Wake Forest was actually expected to win, ESPN college basketball analyst Seth Greenberg is placing a lot of the blame for Filipowski’s injury on Wake Forest’s administration.
“Wake Forest … dropped the ball,” Greenberg said. “You have to have a plan in place. If you’re playing this game, and you’re expecting to win, you’ve got to hire extra security. You’ve got to have a plan in place to make sure these players get off the court safely. Whether it’s create a blockade with your security so the students on both ends can’t get on the court, you’ve gotta have something in place.
“Wake Forest and their administration, shame on you.”
Court storming has been a hot topic of late, particularly after an incident involving Caitlin Clark last month.
On CBS Sports, Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis called for limits to court storming.
Fans storm the court as they celebrate with Wake Forest players after Wake Forest defeated Duke in Winston-Salem, N.C., Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
“You have to make the penalty significant enough to deter it happening,” Kellogg said. “Security is part of the answer, but you have to be prepared. And I think you just need to have a penalty that’s extremely dissuading so that we don’t have this.
“Because somebody’s going to seriously get hurt, and you don’t want that to happen before we do what needs to be done in regards to safety.
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“I think you just shut it down. … If you want to have a … court storm a minute and a half after the game, then you can do that. The players, coaches, officials have to be given room to get off the court safely.”
Added Davis, “The court is for people who have earned the right to be there — players and coaches. The fans have not deserved the right to be there.”
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer called on the NCAA to prohibit fans from entering the court.
Wake Forest’s Matthew Marsh (33) celebrates with fans after the Demon Deacons’ win over Duke in Winston-Salem, N.C., Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
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“When are we going to ban court storming? When are we going to ban that? 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.”
Even the game’s color commentator, Chris Spatola, said court storming “should not happen.”
LSU was fined $100,000 this week after the Tigers defeated Kentucky and fans stormed the court. There are no court-storming penalties in place in the ACC.