Duke standout center Kyle Filipowski sustained a sprained ankle after Wake Forest fans stormed the court to celebrate an 83-79 victory over the No. 8 Blue Devils on Saturday at Winston-Salem, N.C.
Multiple fans bumped into Filipowski, who needed help off the court afterward.
“I absolutely feel that it was personal — intentional, for sure,” Filipowski told reporters a short time later. “There’s no reason where they see a big guy like me trying to work my way off the court and can’t just work around me. There’s no excuse for that.”
Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer was highly upset over the situation and made it clear he is not a fan of storming the court when players are trying to exit.
“Disappointed we lost, but for me, I’m more concerned about the well-being of our guys,” Scheyer said.
“Flip sprains his ankle. When are we gonna ban court storming? When are we gonna ban that? How many times does a player have to get into something where they get punched or get pushed or get taunted right in their face. It’s a dangerous thing.”
Scheyer noted the situation from last month when Iowa women’s star Caitlin Clark was knocked to the ground by a fan celebrating Ohio State’s upset of the Hawkeyes in Columbus.
“You look around the country. Caitlin Clark, something happens,” Scheyer said. “And now Flip, I don’t know what his status is going to be. He sprains his ankle. It’s one thing, like when I played, at least it was 10 seconds and you storm the court. Now, the buzzer doesn’t even go off, and they’re running on the floor. This has happened to us a bunch this year.”
Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes expressed hope that Filipowski’s injury isn’t serious. He also said he isn’t a fan of court storming.
“I don’t like court storming, never have,” Forbes said. “I’ve been a part of those before as a coach. Just don’t feel safe. I’m sure the next time that happens, we’ll do a better job of taking care of that situation.”
Filipowski recorded 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists as Duke dropped to 21-6 overall and 12-4 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Filipowski leads the Blue Devils in scoring (16.9) and rebounding through 27 games.
–Field Level Media