Top Duke Basketball Player Injured After Opposing Fans Storm the Court
Adding injury on top of insult, one of Duke University’s star basketball players was hurt Saturday after unranked Wake Forest beat eighth-ranked Duke 83-79.
Kyle Filipowski collided with a fan when the Wake Forest home crowd stormed the court after the game in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, according to CBS Sports.
Video of the incident showed a collision that left Filipowski off balance and needing assistance to get off the court.
Should court storming be banned after Duke’s Kyle Filipowski almost got killed after losing to Wake Forest #Stoolies pic.twitter.com/2qnR3ZwrfN
— Stoolies Page 🏴☠️ (@stooliespage) February 25, 2024
“When are we going to ban court storming?” Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer said after the game, according to CNN.
“How many times does a player have to get into something where they get punched, or they get pushed, or they [get] taunted right in their face? It’s a dangerous thing,” he said.
He cited the case of Caitlin Clark, a guard for the University of Iowa’s women’s basketball team, who was involved in a postgame incident with a fan in January.
“You look around the country, Caitlin Clark, something happens,” Scheyer said. “And now, Flip, I don’t know what his status is going to be.”
Speaking after Saturday’s game with an ice pack on his right knee, Filipowski — Duke’s leading scorer — claimed that someone intentionally bumped into him, according to the News & Observer.
“There’s some videos of me getting punched in the back,” Filipowski said.
“I absolutely feel like it was personal. Intentional, for sure. There’s no reason where they see a big guy like me trying to work my way off the court that they can’t just work around you. There’s no excuse for that,” he said.
Here is another angle of the injury suffered by Kyle Filipowski during the court storm. pic.twitter.com/vuTFEw9kjD
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) February 24, 2024
Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes noted that he is also not a fan of fans running on the court after a game.
“I don’t like court stormings. I never have. I’ve been part of them before. Next time we’re going to have to do a better job of taking care of that situation,” he said.
DOWN GOES NO. 8 🚨
It’s storming at @WakeMBB after beating Duke ⛈️
🎥: @espn pic.twitter.com/0mRqhzMsKE
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) February 24, 2024
ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said the league has been “in contact with both Duke and Wake Forest regarding what happened following today’s game,” according to CNN.
“Across college athletics, we have seen far too many of these incidents that put individuals at serious risk, and it will require the cooperation of all — including spectators — to ensure everyone’s well-being. As a conference, we will continually assess with our schools the best way to protect our student-athletes, coaches, and fans,” Phillips said.
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