Duke's Kyle Filipowski: Injury During Wake Forest Court Storming Felt 'Intentional'
February 24, 2024
Duke sophomore center Kyle Filipowski believes that Wake Forest fans "absolutely" tried to injure him intentionally following the team's 83-79 upset loss on Saturday.
"I absolutely feel like it was personal, intentional for sure," Filipowski told reporters after the game. "There's no reason where they see a big guy like me trying to work my way off the court and they can't just work around me, there's no excuse for that."
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>
As supporters stormed the court following the game, the center collided with several fans and suffered what was confirmed to be a knee injury by head coach Jon Scheyer.
Filipowski scored 17 points to go along with eight rebounds and five assists in the defeat, shooting 46.2 percent from the field, although he was only able to hit one of his six three-point attempts.
Scheyer called for the banishment of court storming after the game.
"When are we going to ban court storming?" he asked. "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."
Scheyer cited standout Iowa guard Caitlin Clark as an example of the dangers regarding fans rushing onto the floor, as Clark collided with a fan that was storming the court following her team's loss to Ohio State on Jan. 21. Clark was able to avoid a serious injury.
As for Filipowski, the timeline regarding his return from the knee issue is currently unknown. Duke will hope that he's able to come back soon, as the 2023 ACC Tournament MVP has been a driving force behind the team's success all season long.
In 26 contests before Saturday's action, Filipowski averaged 16.9 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 50.2 percent from the field and 35.6 percent from behind the arc.
