Storming the Court is Tradition But Safety Comes First

Florida State fans celebrate their victory over UNC
(Phil Sears/US Presswire)

Every year in college basketball there are upsets when ranked teams go on the road and that always means fans will storm the court. Inevitably, the question of whether or not storming the court should be allowed comes up every year. Roy Williams, head coach of North Carolina, recently made headlines because he sent his players to the locker room with 14.2 seconds left. However, he left the five walk-ons and bench players out on the floor which caused them to struggle through the mass of Florida State students that immediately rushed the court after their team's blowout victory over the 3rd-ranked Tar Heels. Some have frowned upon Williams' decision to send his players to the locker room early, but the reality is that it makes sense.

There are some conferences who have outlawed storming the court and schools who participate in such activity receive a fine for doing so. I disagree with this completely and I really don't like the idea of outlawing it because it is impossible to do so. Storming the court is part of the game and it has been for a long time. There have been a few times when it's been uncalled for, but to me it shows the ultimate sign of achievement in the underdog. Nobody storms the court at Kansas or Duke because winning is expected there. It doesn't matter who they play or when they play them, they are expected to win. However, a school like Florida State isn't supposed to beat the Dukes and Carolinas of the world. Leonard Hamilton has built a quality program down in Tallahassee but they will always be the underdogs when facing North Carolina. Why shouldn't the fans storm the court after a 33-point win over UNC? It's a sign of joy and celebration for accomplishing a task that many thought couldn't be done.

It doesn't make sense to outlaw something that will certainly happen no matter what. If South Carolina beats Kentucky then the fans are going to storm the court and the school will pay the fine later. That's just the way it is. Imposing a fine is silly. Let the kids have some fun. Now, I do believe that there should be announcements made about safety and a large amount of security needs to stand by in case trouble starts, but outlawing it all together takes away a fun aspect of the game.

The issue on whether or not to send players to the locker room early like Williams did is an easy one to me. Safety is the first priority and that is why I like what Williams did. With 14.2 seconds left and the game clearly over on the scoreboard, get the kids out of harm's way. It's easy to get knocked down and you never know what some idiot from the opposing school is going to say so remove the possibility of that happening. Williams did the right thing by informing Hamilton and congratulations can be given later. I do think five players need to be on the floor until the clock expires but even they can stand on the edge of the court while the other team dribbles out the clock. Once the buzzer sounds just make a beeline for the locker room and let the celebration begin.

I think Roy Williams went about this the right way and so did Leonard Hamilton and Florida State. Storming the court is one of the coolest traditions college basketball has and it's not going away any time soon. If safety is a priority then there should never be a problem. That is easy to say and harder to actually do but the Florida State-North Carolina game should be a model for other schools. Both coaches were classy about it and no injuries were reported. The scene in Tallahassee was college basketball at it's finest.