'Totally do away with them': Bill Self not a fan of court storming
LAWRENCE (KSNT) - Court storming has become a topic of conversation in college basketball after an incident left a Duke men's star injured following a court storming over the weekend.
Immediately following the game, Blue Devil big man Kyle Filipowski hurt his knee after a collision with Wake Forrest fans. The Demon Deacons upset No. 10 Duke on their home court.
The topic became widespread in the following days, with Duke head coach Jon Scheyer calling for the post game action to be banned. Others, like ESPN's Jay Bilas, also called for the move to removed in its entirety. This also comes a month after Iowa women's star Caitlin Clark had a collision with a fan following a loss to Ohio State.
On Monday KU men's basketball coach Bill Self was asked his thoughts on this topic.
Self made it clear he wasn't thrilled to see fans run on to the court after the game.
"Well, I certainly don't think it ever should be, 'Let them do as they want,'" Self said. "We've probably been stormed on about as much as anybody I would think at least, there was a period of time, like every road loss we had on a home court, it seemed like it was a court storming."
The Kansas head coach went on to say that he would like to see court storming removed in its entirety.
"So I would hope they could just totally do away with them," Self said. "We haven't stormed a court here. I don't know if we ever have in, you know, my time, but even before that - and I'm not saying that in any way shape or form that that's the way it has to be or we're the standard - but I do believe it's gotten way out of control."
Self says that he and his staff have had to take on extra responsibilities to ensure his players stay safe following a loss.
"We've actually gotten better at it, because of the way you can prep your team in certain ways," Self said. "And a lot of this, the safety measures up until recently, I think has been with the visiting team educating their own players how to handle it. I mean, like calling a timeout with 15 seconds left and it's a 10-point game just to get guys out of the game or whatever. Or tell them, 'Okay, don't go out there, everybody stand next to sideline,' you know, those things happen."
Like others expressing their disdain for court storming, Self suggested harsher penalties for violations.
"That should not be the responsibility of the visiting team to educate their guys, I don't like it, I wish they would...legal outlaw," Self said. "But I would think the leagues could certainly put - stiffen penalties down on places that do that, that would certainly deter those things from ever happening, at least in my standpoint."
Self's take on the recent Duke/Wake Forest court storming is that the lack of security and a plan led to putting everyone in a tough situation.
"The one that everyone's talking about as recently, that was one of the quickest ones I've ever seen. I mean that that happens so fast," Self said. "And if you don't have the proper security in a situation like that, it would be hard to imagine that fans do not come in contact with visiting players, which could lead obviously to injuries or maybe legal things down the road."
No. 7 Kansas hosts BYU in Allen Fieldhouse on Tuesday, Feb. 26.