College basketball, more specifically its atmosphere, can be boiled down to one factor: the fans. The term “home court advantage” itself, which is otherwise known as the benefit of the home team over the visitor, personifies the impact that sports enthusiasts have on the product seen on the court.
From student sections donned the Blue Beard Army for our Seton Hall Pirates to the Cameron Crazies for the Duke Blue Devils, the antics of these fan groups have given them an opportunity to be more involved in what is happening on the court, especially when the opponent is a basketball powerhouse.
Court storming has been a part of the college basketball realm for decades now. Coming in as an “underdog” in many of these matchups, fans are overjoyed with excitement to witness their teams beat, or upset, the top teams in the nation, though in lieu of recent events, court storming has been a controversy.
In a matchup between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Ohio State Buckeyes’ women’s basketball programs, Iowa star Caitlin Clark was knocked down by a Buckeyes fan following their 100-92 defeat. Men’s basketball star and Duke center Kyle Filipowski was caught in his own incident, as he was hurt by a Wake Forest fan after the Blue Devils’ 83-79 loss to the Demon Deacon’s.
“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?” said Duke men’s basketball coach Jon Scheyer. “It’s a dangerous thing.”
A recent poll done by the Seton Hall Sports Poll shows that 43% of fans do not find an issue with court storming and do not think it should be prohibited. On the contrary, 36% find court storming to be a serious issue, believing there should be a forfeit if a team’s fans elect to rush onto the hardwood.
Kansas Jayhawks’ head coach Bill Self and his squad are no stranger to court storming, though Self believes the issues that come with court storming have improved since players have begun to be educated on how to deal with the situation. While it helps to get to the locker room swiftly, Self isn’t a fan that the athletes have to prepare.
Director of research for the National Center for Sports Safety and Security Brandon Allen chimed in, citing “you can try to do a zero-tolerance policy, but how are you going to enforce that?”
The court storming debate has been prevalent prior to the recent increase in injuries. As we look ahead to the coveted NCAA March Madness tournament, where court storming is not only prohibited but improbable, it is unsure if the NCAA will look into solutions.
Thomas Donnelly is the Setonian’s sports editor. He can be reached at thomas.donnelly@student.shu.edu.
