Purdue’s Matt Painter was just the latest college basketball coach to bemoan the dangers of fans storming the court after his top-ranked Boilermakers lost at Nebraska on Jan. 9.
“We gotta do something about the court storms, guys,” Painter said after the Big Ten game in Lincoln. “I don’t know why institutions aren’t ready for it. Like, what did you think was going to happen if they won? Like, spread the word. Spread the word before anyone gets hurt.”
Painter’s comments were widely shared on social media again on Sunday after Iowa women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark collided with a fan after the Hawkeyes’ overtime loss at Ohio State . Clark tumbled to the floor and was tended to by arena officials, a police officer and teammates. She said during postgame interviews that she was OK physically but that it could have been much worse.
“I was just trying to exit the court as quickly as possible, so I started running and I was absolutely just hammered by somebody trying to run onto the court,” Clark said. “Basically blindsided and, you know, kind of scary, could have caused a pretty serious injury to me and knocked the wind out of me. But luckily my teammates kind of picked me up and got me off the court.”