Duke Star Kyle Filipowski Was Hit by Court-Storming Fans, and the College Basketball World Is Calling for Change

After the Blue Devils star appeared hurt during Saturday’s court storm on the road at Wake Forest, college basketball fans are calling for change.

After losing by eight on the road to then-ranked No. 9 Duke just 12 days ago, Wake Forest exacted its revenge at home on Saturday against the No. 8 Blue Devils, 83–79, which led to another epic college basketball court storm inside of the LJVM Coliseum.

Only this time, the court storm led to Duke basketball star Kyle Filipowski getting hit by Wake Forest fans in the chaos of the moment. Filipowski had to be helped off the floor and into the locker room by members of the Duke basketball staff.

ESPN’s Chris Spatola was the color analyst for Saturday’s contest, and he’s seen enough.

• Forde: After Filipowski Injury, It’s Time to Take Action

“That should not happen. That right there is why court-storming should not happen,” Spatola said.

"That should not happen. That right there is why court-storming should not happen."

ESPN's Chris Spatola weighs in on court-storming after Duke's Kyle Filipowski hurt following Wake Forest's upset win over Duke.

(Correction: this tweet initially attributed that line to… pic.twitter.com/7UYy9Tudpu

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 24, 2024

ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Monaco agreed, calling it a “hot button issue” across college basketball over the last couple of years.

Duke coach Jon Scheyer voiced his displeasure in postgame media availability.

“Flip sprained his ankle,” Scheyer said after the game. “When are we going to ban court storming? When are we going to ban that? How many times does a player have to get into something…? It’s a dangerous thing. And I don’t want that to take away from the game that Wake played, because Wake played a big time game.”

“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

While storming the court has long been viewed as one of the pillars of college athletics, the celebration has drawn concern for the dangers that it poses to the student-athletes on the court, especially visiting players who are forced to fight through the crowd to get back to the locker room.

College basketball fans, especially Duke fans, were very upset following the game on social media.

This is so dangerous. I’m going to sound like a fun hater here, but who cares. When upsets are about to happen, schools must make loudspeaker announcements prohibiting court storming. Remind those involved of sanctions that could follow getting caught up in the moment. https://t.co/Si7sFIsdJb

— Alicia Jessop (@RulingSports) February 24, 2024

It also looks like the fan went flying to the floor in the middle of the stampede. Incredibly dangerous.

Seriously, enough already. Fans do not belong on the court. Ever. https://t.co/NLu8PXueKG

— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) February 24, 2024

I don’t think you can ever stop court storming. But maybe instead of focusing on the fans, security can focus on the away team’s players. Duke had 8+ guys around Filipowski before a security guard showed up. That can’t happen. Hire real security. https://t.co/yzF2WbRCdZ

— Dan Girolamo (@danny_giro) February 24, 2024