Video: Duke's Kyle Filipowski Suffers Knee Injury as Wake Forest Fans Storm Court
February 24, 2024
Duke big man Kyle Filipowski suffered a knee injury after Wake Forest fans stormed the court following the Demon Deacons' 83-79 home win over the No. 8 Blue Devils on Saturday.
Video showed Filipowski walking off the court between the three-point line and the midcourt logo. A throng of fans then stormed the floor from behind the left side of the court, and Filipowski got caught in that mass of people.
One Wake Forest fan appeared to briefly make contact with Filipowski before a second fan made more direct contact with his legs, causing the big man to stumble. Duke players and staff members then rushed toward Filipowski, who was helped off the floor.
"Flip sprains his ankle," head coach Jon Scheyer told reporters after the loss, before telling CBS Sports' Matt Norlander the injury was actually to his center's knee. "When are we going to ban court stormings?"
Filipowski later said he felt like Wake's fans intentionally tried to hurt him:
Brian Hall @bhallwfmy"I absolutely feel like it was personal, intentional for sure." <a href="https://twitter.com/DukeMBB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DukeMBB</a>'s Kyle Filipowski after today's loss to Wake Forest where fans rushed the court. HC Jon Scheyer said Filipowski was injured as he was trying to leave the court. <a href="https://twitter.com/WFMY?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WFMY</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SilkyGilkey?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SilkyGilkey</a> <a href="https://t.co/jQdzRub0Ng">pic.twitter.com/jQdzRub0Ng</a>
Wake Forest Director of Athletics John Currie released a statement after the incident (h/t NCAA college basketball correspondent Andy Katz):
"On behalf of Wake Forest, we sincerely regret the unfortunate on-court incident following this afternoon's men's basketball game and hope the involved Duke student-athlete is doing better. I called Duke Vice President and Director of Athletics Nina King and ACC Senior Associate Commissioner Paul Brazeau immediately after the game and expressed our sincere regret for the situation and our concern for the Duke student-athlete's well-being.
"Although our event management staff and security had rehearsed postgame procedures to protect the visiting team and officials, we clearly must do better. I appreciate the postgame comments of Duke Head Coach Jon Scheyer and I am in complete agreement that something more must be done about the national phenomenon of court and field storming and Wake Forest looks forward to being a part of those conversations."
Numerous analysts pointed out the lack of security, with some even saying court-storming should end entirely.
CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 @CBSSportsCBB"There are actually people who have stormed a court and been seriously injured during that. ... It just didn't happen on CBS or ESPN so it didn't register nationally. ... Even if [Kyle Filipowski is] okay, it is clear he could not have been and that's why we have to put an end to… <a href="https://t.co/jZJlN952K8">pic.twitter.com/jZJlN952K8</a>
This isn't the only recent courtstorming issue of late, as an Ohio State fan collided with Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark last month after the Buckeyes' upset win over the Hawkeyes.
Clark wasn't injured, but the situation could have been worse.
Eric Olson of the Associated Press ran down some recent incidents in a Jan. 28 article.
"A Tulane fan was seen on video making contact with a Memphis player during a court storming in New Orleans hours after the Clark incident on Jan. 21. The Southeastern Conference levied a $100,000 fine against South Carolina after fans rushed onto the court following an upset of Kentucky on Tuesday. Fans also stormed the court at Oregon State on Thursday and at Iowa State, Richmond and Wyoming on Saturday."
ESPN analyst Jay Bilas texted the following to Olson: "I know it will keep happening and accept it. But it seems inevitable that something negative will happen, and we'll act surprised when it was foreseeable."
Now something negative has happened, with Duke's star player suffering a knee injury ahead of the biggest stretch of the season.
Losing Filipowski, who landed ninth in Jonathan Wasserman's latest mock draft for Bleacher Report, for any amount of time would be a huge loss. The 20-year-old sophomore leads Duke with 16.9 PPG and 8.2 RPG.
Duke's next game is Wednesday at home against Louisville.