College basketball fans have been storming courts to celebrate for at least 75 years. Kurt Kemper, a history professor at Dakota State who has written about college sports, recalls that students and cheerleaders alike took to the court at Madison Square Garden after City College won both the 1950 NIT and NCAA tournaments. Since the last week of January alone, there have been at least eight court stormings from Richmond, Virginia, to Corvallis, Oregon, and many points in between.
Recent incidents in college basketball have underscored the potential dangers that come from jubilant fans storming the court after the game comes to an end. Duke center Kyle Filipowski and Iowa star Caitlin Clark both got caught in scary incidents recently. An Ohio State fan accidentally knocked Clark down after the Buckeyes beat the visiting Hawkeyes and last weekend Filipowski got his right knee banged up in a collision with a Wake Forest fan.
Duke coach Jon Scheyer wants the Atlantic Coast Conference to implement measures to prevent court-storming after star big man Kyle Filipowski was hobbled following a collision with a fan during
Duke coach Jon Scheyer wants the Atlantic Coast Conference to implement measures to prevent court-storming after star big man Kyle Filipowski was hobbled following a collision with a fan during