In college sports, the concept of court/field storming is something that we often see when an upset occurs. While it may be a symbol of fan excitement and hope, there are evident downsides to it, like in the case of the recent Wake Forest upset over Duke that resulted in the injury of Blue Devils star Kyle Filipowski.
In the wake of his injury, Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer and others have called for court storming to be banned. Now, Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne has gone one step further: Penalizing the home team in the form of a forfeit if court storming occurs.
Alabama AD Greg Byrne believes forfeits could stop court storming?
?You have 2 kids run out there, no, but when you have a sustained rush like what just happened the other day at Wake, you lose the game. That will get people to stop.?
(via @aldotcom)https://t.co/cGHc1VCXso pic.twitter.com/VeKOK4DiqG
— On3 (@On3sports) February 26, 2024
"You have two kids run out there, no, but when you have a sustained rush like what just happened the other day at Wake, you lose the game," Byrne said. "That will get people to stop."
"Kids aren't going to be in the stands saying "Oh, I don't want to do this because the school is gonna get fined $200,000," Byrne said. "That doesn't enter their mindset. But if they knew the game that they just had been a part of, celebrated a great win that led to that, if they knew that they were going to lose that game immediately, that would stop them."
The ACC has no punishments for court storming, while the SEC does. In the SEC, first-time offenders are fined $100,000, $200,000 for the second, and $500,000 for all other instances after that. Those fines are paid directly to the opposing school.
Another near-injury happened in January with Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark against Ohio State. Following the Buckeyes upset, fans stormed the court and one collided with Clark. She was relatively unharmed and able to play.
Byrne has seen individuals, including a student manager, get injured with field storming.
"We had a student manager we thought was gonna lose an eye after a field storm in the last few years," Byrne shared. "He ended up being concussed and the doctors were able to save his eye. We had a doctor, a female doctor, get pushed down and bruised up pretty bad. And something needs to be done about it."
We'll have to see how the college landscape reacts to court/field storming moving forward.
