Alabama AD Greg Byrne believes forfeits could stop court storming in college athletics

The topic of court storming in collegiate athletics was reignited this weekend after Duke men’s basketball star Kyle Filipowski was injured after Wake Forest students rushed the court on Saturday following the Demon Deacons’ upset victory over the Blue Devils.

Duke head coach Jon Scheyer and several others have called for court storming to be banned as players continue to be put in harm’s way following upset victories. And while leagues like the SEC do issue fines for storming the court, Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne believes that there’s only one solution to truly putting an end to excited students running onto the field of play after games.

Penalizing the home team by forcing them to forfeit the game that was just played.

“You have two kids run out there, no, but when you have a sustained rush like what just happened the other day at Wake, you lose the game,” Byrne said. “That will get people to stop.”

“Kids aren’t going to be in the stands saying “Oh, I don’t want to do this because the school is gonna get fined $200,000,” Byrne said. “That doesn’t enter their mindset. But if they knew the game that they just had been a part of, celebrated a great win that led to that, if they knew that they were going to lose that game immediately, that would stop them.”

Byrne believes that the home team being forced to forfeit the game would discourage students from storing the court, an interesting proposition to a problem that’s become more and more relevant across the college athletics landscape.

The ACC has no punishment in place for court storming, but the SEC recently restructured their penalties for court storming doubling its fines to $100,000 for the first offense, $200,000 for the second, and $500,000 for the third and other subsequent offenses. Also having the offending school now pay the fine directly to the school that’s on the opposite end of the court storming.

Iowa women’s basketball standout Caitlin Clark collided with an Ohio State fan after the Buckeyes pulled off an overtime, upset win at home in January. Clark was still able to play in the Hawkeyes’ next matchup, but Filipowski’s status is still uncertain after multiple Wake Forest fans collided with his lower body and Duke staff members had to help him off the court on Saturday.

But Byrne shared an anecdote about Alabama staff members in the past who sustained a serious injury as a result of a field storming, showing that not just athletes are put at risk and just how dangerous storming can be.

“We had a student manager we thought was gonna lose an eye after a field storm in the last few years,” Byrne shared. “He ended up being concussed and the doctors were able to save his eye. We had a doctor, a female doctor, get pushed down and bruised up pretty bad. And something needs to be done about it.”

Putting the outcome of a sporting event in the hands of fans would be unprecedented, but there’s no question that Byrne is correct that action needs to be taken regarding court storming as student-athletes and others continue to be put at risk.