Wake Forest did everything it needed Saturday to take a major step toward earning an NCAA tournament bid, a moment that sent its celebrating fans sprinting onto the court as the clock hit zero.
That moment of exuberance left Duke star Kyle Filipowski hobbled after a collision with a fan, reigniting discussions about the dangers of court storming and overshadowing the afterglow of the Demon Deacons’ 83-79 win against the eighth-ranked Blue Devils.
The 7-footer was hobbled when he appeared to bang his right leg into the leg of a fan running by him. Filipowski, who had raised his arms as though to brace for a potential collision, spun off balance and ended up wrapping his arms around a manager and walk-on teammate Stanley Borden for help getting to the locker room tunnel amid the chaos.
Filipowski, who said he injured his knee in the collision, believes the contact was intentional.
“It’s just really ridiculous how that situation is handled,” Filipowski told WFMY News after the game. “I absolutely feel like it was personal. Intentional for sure. Like I said, there’s no reason where they see a big guy like me trying to work my way off the court and they can’t just work around me, you know? There’s no excuse for that.”
He later posted a short message on his X account that read, “this gotta change.”
This gotta change…
— Kyle “Flip” Filipowski (@kylefilipowski) February 24, 2024
Duke coach Jon Scheyer expressed his displeasure with court storming, calling for it to be banned.
“When are we going to ban court storming?” Scheyer asked the media. “When are we going to ban that? 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.
“You look around the country. Caitlin Clark, something happens. And now Flip, I don’t know what his status is going to be. He sprains his ankle. It’s one thing, like when I played, at least it was 10 seconds and you storm the court. Now, the buzzer doesn’t even go off and they’re running on the floor. This has happened to us a bunch this year.”
Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes agreed with Scheyer — court stormings should not be allowed.
“I didn’t see what happened in the end. I hope he’s OK,” Forbes said. “I don’t like court stormings. I never have. I’ve been a part of those before. They just don’t feel safe.”
On Saturday night, Wake Forest athletic director John Currie issued a statement saying he…
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