LAWRENCE, Kan. — On Monday, Jon Scheyer, Bill Self and other college basketball leaders called for a ban on court assault in college basketball due to safety concerns and potential legal impacts for athletes and students.
Talk of the court assault intensified over the weekend after Duke star Kyle Filipowski was hit by Wake Forest fans who fell to the ground following the Demon Deacons' 83-79 victory over the Blue Devils on Saturday. That incident unfolded just weeks after a fan bumped into women's basketball superstar Caitlin Clark following Iowa's upset loss at Ohio State.
On the ACC media conference call on Monday, Scheyer said the ACC should implement a ban on court breaking now and not wait to address the issue this offseason. He said Filipowski avoided serious injury during the court assault incident, but that he was “a little sore” on Monday. Scheyer initially said Filipowski had suffered an ankle injury. The projected lottery pick in this summer's NBA draft was carried off the court by his teammates after the collision.
Eleven conferences (Atlantic 10, Big East, Big South, Big Ten, Big 12, Conference USA, Mid-Eastern Athletic, Pac-12, WAC, Southeastern and West Coast) recently told ESPN that the home school of a storm court You may be subject to a fine in certain circumstances.
The ACC does not impose fines for court assault, and a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Associated Press that the league has no intention of fining Wake Forest for Saturday's incident.
“There is no way we should wait until next year, something should be done right now,” Scheyer said during the ACC call. “At the end of the day, players, coaches and officials are the only people who belong on a court.”
Self said he has witnessed safety issues firsthand during multiple judicial storms after highway losses throughout his career.
In 2012, Self had to help referee Darron George off the court after suffering a broken arm when Iowa State fans stormed the court following a loss against the Jayhawks. In 2015, a Kansas State fan bumped into former Kansas forward Jamari Traylor during another on-court storm after a Kansas loss.
“Let's get rid of him completely,” Self told ESPN on Monday. “I don't see the positive impact from a visual standpoint. Our game has excitement and people are very excited about college basketball. [Court storming] It's not as positive as a potential negative that exists when someone gets hurt or sued. Can you imagine a kid storming into court, bumping into someone, getting sued, and his life changing forever? It works both ways. Or someone runs into one of our players, our player [lifts their arms] to protect yourself and catches someone right in the Adam's apple or hits them in the temple and they get a concussion or something? That's a lawsuit against them.”
Self said he watched the video of the assault on the Wake Forest field on Saturday and believed Filipowski didn't have a chance to prepare for the moment fans ran onto the field. He described it as a dangerous situation that leagues could alleviate with tougher penalties.
“What happened the other day, watching it live, could have been a lot worse,” Self said. “Filipowski didn't seem willing to prepare for it.”
Self said Kansas has “probably been attacked as much as anyone,” so he's now trying to prepare his players in case opposing fans might rush onto the field. He said he tries to make sure his players are close to the bench when time runs out in those situations. However, it is not always possible to create a safe scenario.
Plus, it's not his job to keep his team safe when fans storm the court, he said.
“Safety measures, until recently, consisted of the visiting team educating its own players on how to handle [court storming]”Self said. “Like calling a timeout when there's 15 seconds left and it's a 10-point game, just to take guys out of the game or whatever, or tell them not to come out and stay on the sideline. Those things happen. But even with that, it shouldn't be the visiting team's responsibility to educate their guys.”
Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway said storming onto the court had previously been a fun moment for fans to celebrate an unexpected victory. However, in recent years the tone around breaking into the courts has changed, she said.
“I understand that's been a part of college basketball forever. But now it's starting to get too violent because there are so many people stuck in the middle,” he said Sunday after his team's victory over Florida Atlantic. “Usually the students come out and surround the players, let them off the court and let security grab them. Now, it's like they're trying to let the players see them or say something. [to them]. You want the safety of the fans along with the safety of the players. I think you should let the team out. “If you feel like you're going to storm onto the court and allow it, don't do a handshake line.”
Coaches aren't the only ones leading the conversation. Brett Yormark, the Big 12 commissioner, told “Outside the Lines” on Monday that he and the other top commissioners plan to address the assault on the courts in the near future.
“I can say you [Tuesday] in fact, I have a call with some of my fellow commissioners and we're going to address it because it's not a conference topic, it's an industry issue and something that, you know, we need to address collectively,” Yormark said on the show. “And “Those conversations are being had, and tomorrow we will have one formally and see where it takes us.”
Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne went so far as to say he believes teams should lose in scenarios like the Duke-Wake Forest game.
“You've got two kids running, no, but when you have a sustained run like what happened the other day at Wake, you lose the game,” Byrne told reporters in Birmingham on Monday. “That will give people pause.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
