Duke star Kyle Filipowski suffered an ankle injury during a court storming after the Blue Devils’ loss to Wake Forest.
The Demon Deacons managed an 83-79 win over Duke, and the capacity crowd was eager to celebrate the upset by storming the court. Several fans got tied up with Filipowski, who was trying to get off the court. While it was difficult to tell precisely what happened in the chaotic scene, Filipowski seemingly hurt his leg or ankle after colliding with some fans.
Cameras showed that Filipowski had to be helped to the locker room by teammates and staff and could not put much weight on one of his legs. After the game, Duke coach Jon Scheyer suggested that Filipowski had suffered a sprained ankle, and called for a ban on court storming.
Later, Scheyer announced Filipowski suffered a knee injury.
Fans love court storming, but it can have dangerous consequences, and it has really been down to luck that no player has ever suffered a serious injury during one. Coaches have complained before about the lack of protection and some conferences have tried to crack down on it, but punishment usually comes in the form of fines against the university as opposed to efforts to actually stop the practice from taking place. Expect the discussion about possibly banning court storming to flare up again in light of this.
Filipowski scored 17 points and contributed eight rebounds and five assists in Saturday’s loss. The sophomore center is Duke’s leading scorer and rebounder on the season.
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