Duke’s Scheyer reacts to North Carolina court storming: ‘I got staff members that got punched in the face’

Duke coach Jon Scheyer says the court-storming that followed No. 14 North Carolina’s come-from-behind win over No. 4 Duke was “scary” and involved some of his staff getting “punched in the face.”

“It’s hard to talk about the game when I was most concerned just for the safety of our players,” Scheyer said after his team’s 71-68 defeat on a game-winning 3-pointer by North Carolina guard Seth Trimble.. “I don’t wanna make it about that because Carolina played a great game to win, but... I got staff members that got punched in the face... “My family [was] trying not to get trampled. That’s not what this game is about. That was a scary ending.”

He added:

“...They won, they should celebrate...But just let’s get our guys off safely.”

One video clip posted to X/Twitter appeared to show someone throwing a water bottle at a Duke player in the melee following the game.

This is not the first time Duke and Scheyer have been on the receiving end of a scary court-storming.

In February 2024, then Duke sophomore Kyle Filipowski was helped off the floor by his teammates and Duke staff after Wake Forest’s 83-79 home win over the No. 8 Blue Devils.

Filipowski sustained a sprained ankle during the Wake Forest court storm, Scheyer told reporters.

“Flip sprains his ankle, when are going to ban court storming?” Scheyer said. “Like when are 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 in their face. It’s a dangerous thing.”

Scheyer said he “did not want that to take away from the game that Wake played,” but “When I played at least it was 10 seconds and you would storm the court. Now it’s the buzzer doesn’t even go off and they’re running on the floor….That needs to stop.”

That same season, then Iowa superstar Caitlin Clarkwas shaken up but not injured after a fan who was staring at her phone collided with her while storming the court on Jan. 21 at Ohio State.

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