Court storming in college basketball has been a tradition for years. However, people are starting to realize that it is not a great idea. 

After Duke University basketball star Kyle Filipowski was injured when Wake Forest University fans stormed the court, some fans are calling for the removal of court storming. I agree with them. 

Court storming has been a cool thing to watch at times, I do admit. However, it can also be dangerous for players and fans.  

Kyle Filipowski is an important player for Duke and is a future first-round pick. Luckily, he did not get injured too badly. However, getting injured at all is a tragedy that should not happen to any other player. 

Injuries are not just happening to the player either. Fans and even security guards get trampled as the fans rush the court. In college football, when fans jump from ledges to enter the field, they get hurt. When fans steal goalposts, that can cause injuries and costs the school money. 

Costing the school money is how court storming can stop. Some conferences already do it but not to the necessary extent. The Atlantic Coast Conference, which Duke is in, has no fines for court storming.  

Fines are not really stopping people though. The fans just continue to do it even if it hurts the school. This means if we really want court storming to stop, the winning team will have to forfeit the game if fans storm the court. Yes, it is very drastic, but if we want to worry about everyone’s safety, drastic measures must be taken. 

Fans will only stop when they know something bad will happen to them or their school.

Injuries are not the only reason to stop court storming. It can also look very embarrassing for a school at times. 

Court storming was great when no one would get injured, and it only happened every so often. Now, court stormings are happening every week. Court storming used to be dedicated to only beating the best of the best. Now, any little upset has a court storming. 

Here at Eastern, we had our own court storming. After the Panther volleyball team beat an unranked University of Missouri, the fans stormed the court. 

Eastern ended up losing to Missouri the very next day. That just made the fans look overall embarrassing. 

Moments like this are seen all over the college world. Just last week, Creighton University, who was ranked number 25, beat the number one team, the University of Connecticut. The fans stormed the court after the game.  

I do not think that fans should be storming courts after an upset like that. Even if it is the number one team, Creighton is still ranked. They are still a good team and court stormings should be saved for when a team that is not that good beats a really good team.  

Overall, court storming is just bad for college sports. Players and fans can get injured way too easily from it and a lot of times it does way more harm than good.  

Patrick Schmitz can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].