Court Storming Should be Banned

Unpopular opinion: court storming in college basketball should be banned completely.

Sure, why take the typical college fun away from 18-22-year-old students? The answer is simple: liability. Seth Davis, a college basketball analyst, acknowledged this topic in a Sports Illustrated column in 2015. “I realize this topic is becoming tiresome, including to me, but I will keep addressing it because I believe there is a frightening inevitability to all of this,” said Davis in his column. This inevitability? Injuries to players, journalists, referees, and coaches.

This conversation over whether court storming should be allowed or banned hit a critical boiling point in 2015. The Cyclones of Iowa State had come back from a 20-point deficit to defeat in-state rival Iowa in Hilton Coliseum, the home court of the Cyclones. Randy Peterson, a sportswriter for the Des Moines Register, suffered a broken tibia and fibula after being tripped by a female student joining the court storm. Seth Davis, as a reaction to this in the same 2015 article states, “People who argue for allowing court storms always say that nothing bad ever happens, but something bad did happen in Ames. Yet, apparently it wasn’t bad enough. Next time, it will be.”

The debate has quickly gotten popular again as issues keep arising. After Kansas State defeated rival Kansas, a fan became the victim of self-defense by Jamari Traylor. Now, on January 13, a West Virginia player, Wesley Harris, has become the focal point of an investigation by the NCAA and the Big 12 after a video of him shoving a fan surfaced. The debate has come down to one simple argument; if court storming was banned, would this have occurred. The long list of issues stemming from court storming is as long as the list of division one college basketball teams. After looking at the list below, ask yourself, what should be the future of court storming in college basketball AND football.

1. C. State student who got knocked out of wheelchair in 2012
2. A female Indiana fan tore tendons in her ankle in 2011.
3. Possible terrible brawl after a confrontation between New Mexico State and Utah Valley in 2014.
4. Kansas Coach and Jamari Traylor being attacked and physically victimized in 2015