After a big-time win over a ranked college team, there’s nothing more aesthetically pleasing than seeing the fans storming the court to celebrate with the players.
Just take a look at some of the most iconic court storming moments in recent years:
While it’s fun to be able to run on the court and be apart of the madness, court-storming doesn’t go so smoothly all the time and is actually discouraged in most arenas.
Before this college basketball season, I had never thought about how player safety is put at risk when fans rush the court, but a few recent incidents have sparked discourse among the basketball community.
Caitlyn Clark is quite possibly the greatest college basketball player of all time, men’s or women’s. Clark suffering a freak injury because a fan is running onto the court at top speed in order to celebrate isn’t ideal.
She ended up being fine, just a little stunned because why would she expect to be trucked by a careless fan?
A few weeks later, Duke Center Kyle Filipowski suffered an ankle sprain during a more ruthless and crowded court-storming.
After the game, Head Coach of Duke, Jon Scheyer, let his frustrations be known.
Scheyer asked “When are we going to ban court storming?”
In my opinion, court storming is fun and part of what makes the environment of college basketball so special. But there’s better ways to continue the tradition rather than putting opposing players at risk.
Instead of waiting for the worst possible scenario to happen, then ban court-storming altogether, why doesn’t the NCAA just enforce a little bit of order in the chaos. Controlled chaos, if you will.
Wait until opposing teams and coaches are off the floor, then let the fans loose. Maybe put up a rope like the fans have to wait to get into a VIP section.
We cannot lose the aura of college basketball. The whole NIL ordeal challenges the college basketball space enough already.
For fans of college basketball: storm the court. With care.
-Dom