Court-storming is a long-standing tradition unique to college basketball. Whether it is an upset over a top team or a buzzer-beater to win the game, the energy coming from the crowd in those final seconds is palpable. While storming the court after a game can be fun, it can also be dangerous. This year, the discussion surrounding the dangers of court-storming has been more prominent than ever with injuries to some of the biggest stars in college basketball.
I want to make clear that I do not agree with the idea of banning court-storming completely. Let me preface this by saying I believe there must be a better way to maintain player and fan safety during these moments than to ban it altogether.
Many coaches and conference officials are calling for an end to court-storming immediately. The reason behind this discussion catching so much attention recently is that two of college basketball’s biggest stars have been involved in court-storming incidents this season.
Notable incidents of fans colliding with players.
The first of these incidents came on Jan. 21 when Iowa basketball star Caitlin Clark collided with an Ohio State fan while trying to exit the court After the Buckeyes 100-92 overtime victory. Thankfully Clark was not seriously injured, stating after the collision, “It’s kind of scary. It could have caused a pretty scary injury to me. It knocked the wind out of me. But luckily my teammates kind of picked me up and got me off the court.”
The most recent case of a player colliding with a fan came on Feb. 24 when Duke star Kyle Filipowski collided with a Wake Forest fan following an 83-79 victory over the Blue Devils. Ex-Duke basketball player, and current college basketball analyst at ESPN, Jay Bilas had this to say regarding the future of court storming, “The truth is nothing’s going to change now. We’re going to talk about it. It’s going to go away, and nothing’s going to change.”
Bilas went on to say, “And if they wanted to stop it, they could stop it tomorrow. The administrations will tell you the security experts tell them that it’s not a good idea to try to stop the court storming because that could cause more problems than it would solve. But you don’t have to stop the court-storming.
Bilas then offered a solution to the court-storming problem by saying, “One time, all you have to do is, once they’re on the court, don’t let them off. Just say, ‘You’re all detained,’ and give them all citations, or arrest them if you want to. And then the court-stormings will stop the next day.”
Before these incidents occurred, Purdue basketball coach Matt Painter was well aware of the dangers of court-storming. Painter stated after a Purdue loss to Nebraska, ” We have to do something about the court storms, guys. I don’t know why institutions aren’t ready for it. Like, what did you think was going to happen if they won? Spread the word before someone gets hurt.”
Other college basketball analysts have chimed in on the court-storming discussion. This includes ESPN pundit Stephen A. Smith. He believes colleges do not want to put an end to court-storming.
“They’re not going to do it because they don’t want to spend the money,” Smith said, “That’s what this really comes down to.”
How does the NCAA currently handle court-storming incidents?
There is currently no universal punishment for teams when fans storm the court. However, some conferences who impose fines under certain circumstances. Currently, 11 of the 32 division one conferences impose penalties due to court storming. Those conferences are the Atlantic 10, Big East, Big South, Big Ten, Big 12, Conference USA, Mid-Eastern Athletic, Pac-12, WAC, Southeastern, and the West Coast.
While many are calling for universal punishment for these incidents, NCAA president Charlie Baker said, “I think the risks, especially given the stakes involved for a lot of these young people, are pretty high.” Baker later went on to say, “If we could move away from this, I think it’s a decision that’s got to be made at the conference level.”
“While fines don’t impact the immediate decision-making process of fans, they do provide incentive from universities to develop strategies” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey stated, “allowing people to celebrate, but not do so necessarily on the field or court”. The SEC has some of the most severe punishments for fans storming the playing surface, accruing nearly $4 million in fines over the last 20 years.
The most recent conference to implement fines for such incidents is the West Coast Conference. In the 2023-24 season, the WCC imposed a $5,000 fine for a first offense, $25,000 for a second offense, and up to $50,000 for the third offense within the same season. The first fine was given to Santa Clara on Jan. 11 following a victory over Gonzaga.
The WCC fines are very similar to how other conferences handle their fines. The Big East and Pac-12 have the same system in place for punishing home teams after fans storm the court. While the Big Ten, Big 12, Atlantic 10, Big South, WAC, and Mid-Eaatern Athletic Conference leave the fines to the discretion of the commissioner.
Many pundits and coaches alike are calling for the NCAA to impose punishments regarding fans entering the playing surface. However, it does not look like that will happen any time soon. Rather punishments will be left in the hands of the conferences themselves. With these incidents occurring recently, one has to think more and more fines will start being imposed soon. So, what does this mean for the future of court storming in the future?
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