Kansas State Fans Storm Court, Chaos Ensues

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Kansas State's court-storming took an ugly turn Monday night.
Kansas State's court-storming took an ugly turn Monday night.

Kansas State’s Bramlage Coliseum is nicknamed the “Octagon of Doom” and claims to have the largest student section in the Big 12. Monday night, that section spilled onto the court in a doomsday scene for players, coaches and fans.

K-State defeated the no. 8 Kansas Jayhawks 70-63 in one of the nation’s most heated rivalries. Before the coaches could shake hands, fans spilled onto the court to celebrate the win, and in some cases, take things a little further.

Kansas coach Bill Self was smashed against the scorer’s table. Kansas forward Jamari Traylor was hip checked by a fan who ran at him from across the court. A Kansas assistant briefly held a Kansas State fan in a headlock.

It was an athletic administrator’s worst nightmare: a court-storming gone wrong.



"It's a ballgame," Self said afterward. "It's not about chicken-winging somebody when the game's over. Hopefully, they can get that corrected. It's fine if you want to celebrate when you beat us, that's your business. That's fine. But at least it shouldn't put anybody at risk from a safety standpoint."

Kansas State fans rushed onto the court following their team’s victory over the Jayhawks in 2014 as well.

As Athletic Business has written before, the number-one objective during a court-storming is to get the opposing players off the court safely.

"Trying to prevent someone [from storming the court] could cause more bodily injury than it would be to allow them,” Mike Caruso, associate athletic director for events and game operations at Texas A&M told AB in 2014. “If we can prevent it, that's number one. If it's not preventable, let's make sure we get the visiting team and officials off the court safely."

That did not happen Monday night.

"You're asking for big problems," Self added in his postgame news conference, according to The Kansas City Star. "Because somebody's going to hit a player, and the player's going to retaliate, and you're going to have lawsuits and cases, and it's just not right. There's just no place to be unsafe. If you do it, at least do it around center court. Don't do it at the other bench."

Kansas State coach Bruce Weber agreed.

"I love the students, and it's a cool thing to be part of that," he said, "but you also have to be careful of making sure no one gets hurt."

The scene was so chaotic, it prompted the USA Today’s Nicole Auerbach to wonder if this was the court-storming that will end the practice for good. From her column:

“Is this the tipping point?  Is this the end of college basketball court-storming as we know it?

If so, we shouldn't be surprised.

Other national media members voiced their opinions on social media, and images and videos of the event went viral.

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