Kyle Filipowski injury: What happened to Duke center during game vs Wake Forest?
Kyle Filipowski suffered an injury following Duke's loss to Wake Forest on Saturday.
The Demon Deacons defeated the Blue Devils 83-79 on Saturday, prompting fans to stampede the court. During the storming of the court, the 7-foot center got caught in the middle and appeared to make contact with many fans before needing assistance exiting the court.
Following the injury, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips issued a statement.
“Across college athletics, we have seen far too many of these incidents that put individuals at serious risk, and it will require the cooperation of all — including spectators — to ensure everyone’s well-being,” Phillips said.
“As a conference, we will continually assess with our schools the best way to protect our student-athletes, coaches, and fans.”
After the game, Kyle Filipowski says he felt the fans shoving him were intentional and is disappointed with how Wake Forest fans acted.
“I've already heard that there's some videos of getting punched in the back, so I absolutely feel like it was personal," Filipowski said, via Sportsnet.
"You know, intentional for sure. Like I said, there's no reason where they see a big guy like me trying to work my way off the court and they can't just work around me. There's no excuse for that.”
It's uncertain how severe the injury is, but Filipowski is disappointed with Wake Forest's fans.
Duke head coach calls for storming the courts to end
After his player, Kyle Filipowski, got injured by Wake Forest fans, Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer called for the NCAA to ban court-storming.
“When are we going to ban court-storming?" Scheyer said. "Like, when are we going to ban that? How many times does a player have to get into something where they get punched or they get pushed or they get taunted right in their face? It’s a dangerous thing.”
Banning storm-courting is something many coaches and players have called for, but whether or not the NCAA will do so is uncertain at this time.
“Yeah, they're here today, you see it,” Scheyer said. “Who in their right mind can see that and (say), 'Yeah, that's smart'? It's dangerous.
"In what other sport does that happen? And I'm telling you, I don't even think, it was — what, did the buzzer go off and all of a sudden fans are at halfcourt."
Kyle Filipowski is averaging 16.9 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game in his second season with Duke.