Escaping Injury After a Head-On Collision, Does the Recent Caitlin Clark Episode Warrant a Ban on Court Storms?

After the overtime thriller, No. 2 Iowa lost to No. 18 Ohio in their latest encounter. What was more shocking to Iowa was how their star Caitlin Clark was injured by a fan on the court. The brazen act has rekindled the old question: Is it high time to ban on-court storms to prevent such incidents?

On-court storming has been a national topic for so many years. On one hand, it has always been why should someone spoil the fun of college kids celebrating their team’s victory. On the other hand, the possible outcomes and injuries make it worse and more remorseful, especially after the incident with Clark’s head-to-head collision, which would have resulted in a much more serious injury.

Are court strikes dangerous enough to be banned?

“Why should we deprive young adults aged 18 to 22 of the traditional college experience?” This is a question that often arises, but the answer is quite simple: liability.

In a 2015 Sports Illustrated article, basketball commentator Seth Davis addressed this topic and stated, “I know this issue is getting old, but I will continue to address it because I believe there is a frightening inevitability to all of this.” The inevitable outcome he speaks of is the injuries that can occur to coaches, referees, players, and media personnel.

In 2015, the debate over whether or not court storming should be allowed reached a boiling point. During a game at the Hilton Coliseum, the Iowa State Cyclones overcame a 20-point deficit to defeat their in-state rival, Iowa. However, after the game, a female student who joined the court storm accidentally tripped and shattered the tibia and fibula of sportswriter Randy Peterson from the Des Moines Register. “Those who argue for allowing court storms always say that nothing bad ever happens, but something bad did happen in Ames,” writes Seth Davis in response to this incident in the same 2015 post. He adds, “However, it didn’t seem to be terrible enough. Next time, it could be worse.”

This column by Seth Davis speaks about the severity of the issue, as a moment of fun could lead to severe life-changing consequences, and sometimes the on-court storms are also used to serve their vengeance. As one fan allegedly pushed David Jones after the match, which was widely condemned, it also led to violence in disguise. Throughout the history of basketball, many such events have been dealt with, but one with Caitlin Clark and David Jones has seriously re-ignited thoughts on the ban.

Read More: What Happened With Caitlin Clark? Is the Iowa Star Injured?

An episode of suffering for Caitlin Clark

Caitlin Clark’s 45-point game led to disappointment as she rushed back to the locker room. But in an unexpected moment, she collided with a fan who was rushing in to celebrate the Ohio victory. Clark was hampered in her head. About this incident, Caitlin told reporters,“Great win for them, and I was just trying to exit the court as quickly as possible, so I started running, and I was just hammered by somebody trying to run onto the court and blindsided… kind of scary. Could have caused a 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.”

Andy Staples on his show expressed seething criticism over this incident, saying, “This is why you have, like, the SEC constantly saying we have to stiffen the penalties for court and field stormings because we can’t have something happen. Now, fortunately, Caitlin Clark was okay. But you guys have got to be careful when you’re storming courts or storming fields, or they’re going to do something about it. Or they’re going to ban me because I’m not the fun police. I would like you to be able to do this. I think it’s awesome; the visual is cool. I’ve been on the field a bunch of times when the field has been stormed.”

This was the status of Andy Staples regarding the issue: “Most people are just trying to have a good time. But I will tell you that the best thing to do, if you are doing that, is stay away from any players, whether they’re your team’s players or the other team’s players, but especially the other team’s players.” 

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A similar incident happened to Memphis star David Jones as a fan wanted to push him back, which was so evident in the video. Observers highly condemned the act yet behaviors like these are totally unacceptable and put players in a jeopardy.