Duke star Kyle Filipowski was injured after Wake Forest fans stormed the court Saturday to celebrate an upset win over the Blue Devils, and ESPN’s broadcast team responded to the situation within seconds.
As the buzzer sounded for Wake’s 83-79 win, fans rushed the court. Within seven seconds, the ESPN broadcast cut to a view of Filipowski surrounded by teammates and coaches, as other team members tried to fend off fans.
ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Monaco and color analyst Chris Spatola quickly weighed in on the game broadcast.
“Kyle Filipowski is being helped off by Duke staff,” Monaco said. “And you saw the immediate bear hug surrounding him as this court storming is in full effect, with Filipowski hobbled. Wow!”
“That should not happen,” Spatola said. “That right there is why court storming should not happen.”
“It has become a hot-button issue over the last few years,” Monaco responded.
"That should not happen. That right there is why court-storming should not happen."
ESPN's Mike Monaco weighs in on court-storming after Duke's Kyle Filipowski hurt following Wake Forest's upset win over Duke. pic.twitter.com/cUf1G8EYw0
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 24, 2024
Expect to hear much more about this issue in the days to come, given the injury to Filipowski. Duke coach Jon Scheyer told reporters after the game the center had suffered a sprained ankle, before asking the question everyone is wondering.
“Flip sprains his ankle. When are we going to ban court stormings?” Scheyer said.
“When are we going to ban court storming?”
Jon Scheyer on Kyle Filipowski spraining his ankle in the court storming at Wake Forest, and he also points to what happened to Caitlin Clark at Ohio State, a month ago. pic.twitter.com/VCdMJXRywl
— Will Dalton (@thewilldalton) February 24, 2024
The Duke center was a preseason first-team All-American selection. It’s the second time in a matter of weeks that a college basketball superstar has been involved in such an incident. Iowa star Caitlin Clark had to be helped off the court after an Ohio State fan collided with her while celebrating on the court after a game.
Fans quickly reacted to the incident.
Frankly, I'm over court-storming. It used to happen when someone knocked off number 1 or when a team knocked off a top 5 for the first time in forever.
Now it just happens every damn time there's an upset. It really has gotten completely out of hand. https://t.co/fWbhLlVTua
— 🥊Johnny Danger📖 (@K_NoiseWaterMD) February 24, 2024
"When I played, it was 10 seconds and then they would run on the floor."
— Conor O'Neill (@ConorONeill_DI) February 24, 2024
Tweeted about this after Caitlin Clark and the majority of responses were too busy saying she “flopped.”
My point still remains.
Wait 90 seconds and get the visiting team off the floor safely, then do whatever in the world you want to do. https://t.co/o9sgLbKACC
— Eric Henry (@EricCHenry_) February 24, 2024
Students on the floor before there were zeroes on the clock. Absolute trash. https://t.co/KHjY1OVoGE
— TL (@tripp1L) February 24, 2024
Duke was lucky ONLY Filipowski got hurt here. Other players who picked up on what was coming managed to sprint to safety. Embarrassing work from LJVM Coliseum security https://t.co/2i5RiZuK2L
— dalton (@daltonjbrown) February 24, 2024
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