"Give them all citations or arrest them": ESPN's Jay Bilas sounds off on court storming after fan injures Duke’s Kyle Filipowski in Wake Forest upset

A Saturday matchup saw Wake Forest fans flooding their home court after the Demon Deacons' 83-79 victory over the No. 8 Duke Blue Devils. However, Duke's Kyle Filipowski got injured after colliding with a fan amid the chaos.

The sophomore center contributed 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists. He was caught in the stampede, sustaining a right leg injury when a fan clipped his foot. Duke's players and staff formed a protective barrier around him as fans flooded the court. He was subsequently helped off the court, visibly limping.

ESPN analyst Jay Bilas weighed in on the issue of court storming:

"If they wanted to stop it, they could stop it tomorrow ... You don't have to stop the court storming. One time, all you have to do is once they're on the court, don't let them off."

Bilas proposed a drastic solution to curb court storming:

"Just say, 'you're all detained' and give them all citations or arrest them if you want to. And then court stormings will stop the next day."

This incident happened just over a month after another athlete-fan collision occurred with Lowa star Caitlin Clark. It reignites the debate over the safety and consequences of court storming in college basketball.

Duke coach Jon Scheyer calls for ban on court storming after Kyle Filipowski's injury

Duke head coach Jon Scheyer voiced strong concerns regarding court storming following the injury to Kyle Filipowski. In the post-game interaction, he said,

"When are we going to ban court storming? I'm more concerned on the well-being of our guys. ... 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."

Scheyer emphasized the safety of players, highlighting instances of physical altercations that have occurred during such events. Filipowski, who clarified he suffered a knee injury, described the contact as "intentional," expressing frustration over the lack of regard for his safety.

"I absolutely feel that it was personal – intentional, for sure, There’s no excuse for that," Filipowski told USA Today

Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes expressed concern for Filipowski's well-being:

"I hope he's OK. I don't like court stormings. Never have. I've been a part of those before as a coach. Just don't feel safe."

In a separate incident, LSU was fined $100,000 by the SEC for fan celebration after their victory over No. 17 Kentucky. This underscores the prevalence of such occurrences in the sport.