Duke players and coaches are furious after Blue Devils big man and projected lottery pick Kyle Filipowski appeared to get injured by a Wake Forest fan.
Wild scenes are not uncommon in college basketball, but this was something else.
When the buzzer sounded on an 83-79 upset win for Wake Forest, their fans stormed the court and one of them appeared to run into Filipowski and injure him. Duke players and coaches had to help him off the floor as pandemonium ensued.
The incident has reignited a debate about whether it is acceptable for fans to storm the court.
“That should not happen. That right there is why court-storming should not happen,” ESPN analyst Chris Spatola said as the game ended.
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer also pushed for a ban on court-storming.
“I’m more concerned about the wellbeing of our guys,” he told reporters postgame. “When are we gonna ban court storming? 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.”
Filipowski told reporters he believed the collision was intentional and personal.
“I felt a bunch of hits on my body, this one was the worst of them,” he said. “It’s really ridiculous how that situation is handled. I absolutely feel like it was personal, intentional for sure. … There’s no excuse for that.”
Filipowski is projected by The Ringer to be selected 10th overall at this year’s NBA draft. He is averaging 16.9 points and 8.3 rebounds on the season.