Unbelievable : Caitlin Clark can not speak any more due to another critical injury that occure to her….
Just the most recent college basketball coach to lament the risks of supporters swarming the floor was Matt Painter of Purdue, whose top-ranked Boilermakers fell to Nebraska on January 9.
Painter declared, “We gotta do something about the court storms, guys,” following the Big Ten game in Lincoln. The reasons institutions aren’t prepared for it are beyond me. Suppose they won, what do you suppose would happen? Similar, tell others. Tell everyone before someone gets hurt.”
Painter’s remarks were re-shared widely on social media on Sunday following Iowa women’s basketball player Caitlin Clark’s collision with a fan following the Hawkeyes’ overtime loss to Ohio State. After falling to the floor, Clark was attended to by teammates, a police officer, and arena officials. It might have been far worse, she acknowledged in postgame interviews, but she was OK physically.
“I started running and I was absolutely just hammered by somebody trying to run onto the court because I was just trying to exit the court as quickly as possible,” Clark recalled. “Basically, it was kind of scary and blindsided, which might have seriously hurt me and knocked me out. Fortunately, though, my teammates helped me up and off the court.”
Security helps Iowa player Caitlin Clark (22) from the court after Ohio State beats the Hawkeyes at Value City Arena.
A Memphis men’s basketball player was shoved by a fan who hurried the floor following a Sunday game against Tulane, almost before the Clark incident had a chance to go viral on social media.
As ubiquitous at college basketball games as pep bands and mascots, students are racing onto the floor after the home team defeats a rated opponent. While some conferences have tried to make things safer over time by enacting harsher penalties for court-storming, the phenomena has been tolerated for decades in spite of the inherent dangers.
Painter basically suggested that schools merely need to better prepare for court-stormings, which are unavoidable. That evening, the Boilermakers had good fortune since nobody was injured. Nothing occurred, Painter remarked, but something was certain to happen.
Nebraskan students ought to be allowed to rush the court, right? We’re cool, like,” Painter remarked. Just as, though, if that’s what you plan to do, be prepared. That is causing us problems in our conference. There will be injury to someone. That will be a student, too. Possibly a Nebraskan dude. Perhaps a member of our group. It might be someone standing at the scorer’s table. Anybody could be it. But like, I’m not sure why folks don’t get ahead of it, are you?
Caitlin Clark incident on Sunday highlights the problem.
The Big Ten women’s basketball game between Iowa and Ohio State drew the largest crowd ever to see a women’s basketball game at Ohio State—more than 18,000 fans. Fans poured past security and onto the court as the No. 15 Buckeyes completed their 100-92 overtime victory over No. 2 Iowa.
A charging Ohio State fan attempting to record the chaos collided with Clark as he attempted to leave the floor amid an instant court-storm. As a policeman carried Clark to the locker room, teammates were at her side. Clark was in agony.
This is what comes with the territory, Clark declared following the game. Officials of the Ohio State arena undoubtedly made every effort to assist. It was clearly ineffective, which is frustrating. I’m only thinking on the game and how we may improve right now, though.”
Iowa’s associate head coach, Jan Jensen, told The Associated Press on Monday that Clark had no injuries from the incident. Clark is the current national player of the year and is almost there to break the Division I women’s basketball scoring record.
Jensen added, “When you have an athlete that hits the turf… but then you have arguably the highest-profile college athlete… this might spark the debate about what do we need to do with this.”
How court-storming is handled by Big Ten and other leagues
Four of the six major basketball conferences punish host universities for not keeping spectators off the court. Those conferences are the Big East, Pac-12, SEC, and Big 12. When fans hit the court, the ACC and Big Ten do not penalize colleges.
We make an effort not to overreach ourselves in our court-storming policies for issues that may not really exist. Don’t want to unjustly burden already beleaguered athletic departments financially,” Big Ten vice president of strategic communications Scott Markley said in an Associated Press interview on Monday.
We do, he added, “have a policy.” “Generally speaking, though, local law enforcement and school policies determine what is best for their fans, student-athletes, and authorities. And we keep an eye on these issues constantly and talk about whether we need to make any changes to ensure a safe atmosphere.”
The Big Ten declared, “The safety and security of student-athletes, coaches and staff is of upmost importance,” in a statement issued to the Des Moines Register on Monday. From the time of their arrival for a game until their departure, host institutions in the Big Ten must offer visiting teams sufficient protection. If sufficient security is not offered, a procedure is in place that starts with a private reprimand for the first offense, a public reprimand for the second, and the option to impose a fine together with other penalties for a third offense. Our policy is regularly reviewed as necessary to guarantee a safe environment for everybody.”
Every press statement following a significant court-storming incident includes the phrase “ensuring a safe environment”. But how to go about that the best? The response, the SEC has determined, is to hammer colleges hard in the pocketbook. Schools that have fans rushing the field or court once are fined $100,000 by the league; successive infractions are fined $250,000 and $500,000. Fans of SEC sports report that the approach has usually been successful in keeping spectators in the stands.
Those sums of money are given to the competing school. Stated differently, the Buckeyes would be due a $100,000 check from Iowa if Ohio State and Iowa were members of the SEC.
