Duke's Filipowski expected to play after court-storming injury

By WRAL/AP

Durham, N.C. — Duke center Kyle Filipowski is expected to play Wednesday night when Louisville comes to Cameron Indoor Stadium.

While Duke did not make an official statement on Filipowski's status before 5 p.m., Bleacher Report and CBS Sports reported that he would suit up.

The 7-footer got caught up in the scrum Saturday as Wake Forest fans stormed the court to celebrate a 83-79 upset of the Blue Devils, triggering a national conversation about the dangers of the practice.

While Filipowski iced a kneecap, his coach, Jon Scheyer, and others across the ACC warned that court storming endangers players and should be punished.

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?

“Everyone knew it was coming,” Filipowski said. “They were up four [points] with 2 seconds left. Everyone was just waiting for the moment. Did they do anything to stop it? They didn't do anything to stop it. That's just ridiculous.”

Storming the court has long been regarded as a rite of passage and part of the fabric of college athletics, most notably in a sport that captures the national spotlight every year with its “March Madness” spectacle in the NCAA Tournament. Yet Saturday marked the latest incident of the potentially combustible combination created by fans venturing between the lines that belong to the athletes right up to that final horn — this time involving an Associated Press preseason All-American.

Wake Forest athletics director John Currie issued a statement saying he had expressed “regret” for the incident to Duke athletics director Nina King as well as to Atlantic Coast Conference senior associate commissioner Paul Brazeau.

“Although our event management staff and security had rehearsed postgame procedures to protect the visiting team and officials, we clearly must do better,” Currie said.