Is Court Storming A Problem For The NCAA?

SPRINGHILL, FL- I remember the first time I ever saw a court storming on television. I don't remember the year, or the team that beat KU, but I do remember the disgusted look on my Dad's face as he watched the chaos unfold. One thing I have since learned about my father is that, like many KU fans, he absolutely despises court storming. When my Dad was a freshman at the University of Kansas in 1973 he got to witness a win over a highly ranked University of Kentucky squad, a team that KU fans universally despise. Towards the end of regulation a group of freshmen, including my Dad, began to run down towards the court but were stopped by upperclassmen who explained bluntly that KU fans do not rush the court, because, ‘We expect to win.’ This is a story that my Dad tells every time the topic comes up and it has shaped my view on the topic.

Fast forward to yesterday where Kyle Filipowski suffered an ankle injury due to a mob of Wake Forest fans deciding to have an impromptu party on the court. This comes just weeks after mega-star Caitlin Clark could have been seriously injured during a court storming incident after a loss to Ohio State. Imagine a world where Clark's NCAA career, and scoring record chase, ended on that night. Sadly, a similarly tragic scenario is likely to happen in the future as court and field stormings are on the rise thanks to viral video clips like the one we saw at Wake Forest yesterday.

Thankfully, there have been some efforts to curb these mob attacks including the SEC instituting harsher penalties for field storming, with fines going as high as half a million dollars paid to the visiting team directly from the offending school. Other conferences have discussed the revocation of a home game the following season for each offense. While it is excellent that some conferences are cracking down, this will not eliminate the practice altogether and the efforts do not extend to basketball games which tend to be more dangerous due to the limited space on the court. Kyle Filipowski and his Duke teammates had no opportunity to exit the court safely, and it was impossible to see them in the melee that completely blanketed the playing surface.

Storming is for losers, and I don't mean the losers of the game itself, I mean losers on a broader scale. When was the last time you saw a national title contender rushing the court or field? If your answer is never, you're correct. Storming the court just screams that you didn't expect your team to win the game and that your entire fanbase doesn't know what to do when it happens. I understand that a tiny school beating a ranked opponent is a big deal, but it isn’t Chaminade beating Virginia that we’re talking about. Some of the most recent are the aforementioned Wake Forest and Ohio State, in addition to UCF and LSU. Seriously, these fanbases need to act like they've been there before because many of them have. Stop pretending that you’re shocked that your team actually won the game.

If these schools can't handle their own student sections then it's time for the NCAA to step in and put a stop to it to protect the players. Station security guards at the edge of the court or close off access from the stands completely. Tell fans that the police will scrutinize post-game video and that violators, especially those who endanger players, will be severely prosecuted. It is sad that we have to discuss any of this. Perhaps what is really needed is for older students to educate the rowdy ones, like that upperclassman did with my Dad. He never forgot the lesson.

John Siebels is the owner of Springhill Sports Cards, he collects and sells sports cards on Ebay, you can find him on Instagram and his Ebay store here