Following the incident last Monday night in Bramlage Coliseum, the question has risen again. Should court storming be outlawed in college basketball?
Last Monday night, Kansas State knocked off in-state rival the University of Kansas 70-63. This is only K-State’s fourth win over KU in the history of Bramlage, so naturally after the game, the Wildcat’s faithful crowd flooded the floor. Typically, a court-storming is meant to be a chance for the students to let out emotion after a big win. Monday night, however took a turn for the worse as K-State student, Nathan Power, ran up and physically pushed KU power forward, Jamari Traylor. Bill Self and Bruce Weber, head coaches of the respective squads got trapped against the scorers table as they were trying to shake hands.
What’s it going to take to stop this? Someone getting trampled to death? Would Jamari Traylor punching Nathan Power and a brawl ensuing have sent the Big 12 a message? This needs to stop, not just at K-State but everywhere. Before long either in the stands or on the court, someone will get trampled, and it will be shut down for good.
I don’t blame K-State for doing what they did. They are having an underwhelming season to say the least, and Kansas has been a college basketball dynamo for 90 years and are looking to win it all again. Nathan Power wrote a heart felt apology and I believe him. He didn’t mean to do what he did, but if you look at the video, it looks intentional.
In February of 2014, Utah Valley State upset New Mexico State and a similar incident to that of Power-Traylor occurred – only a brawl broke out between the two squads. That could’ve easily happened Monday night, but credit to Traylor had the self-discipline to hold back from knocking Power into next week.
People who argue for the court storming have this idea that it will somehow diminish the sport. But look back at the championship teams of the 1970’s in the NBA. Boston Celtics fans in the Boston Garden would rush the floor. The NBA eventually outlawed court storming and it hasn’t diminished professional basketball at all. It’s more popular than college.
The SEC does it best. If a school in the SEC rushes the floor they get fined $25,000. It does not completely take out the court storming in the conference, but it does take it out for the most part. Schools can celebrate in the stands without having to rush the floor. At Emporia State the students are prohibited from rushing the floor and it doesn’t take away from the atmosphere in White Auditorium.
The ball is in the NCAA’s court on this, it’s their call, but action needs to be taken before a tragedy happens. It’s only a matter of time before tragedy strikes.
