A Duke men’s basketball staffer who was injured Saturday night when North Carolina fans stormed the court is “doing better,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said Monday on the ACC coaches teleconference.
“One of our guys got hit in the face, got trampled, looked like he had been in a complete brawl after the game,” Scheyer said. “That should never happen, and that’s exactly what happened.”
Citing the individual’s privacy, Duke declined on Saturday night to identify the injured person.
The ACC announced Sunday that, in accordance with its court-storming policy, North Carolina has been fined $50,000 for its first such offense this season.
“We accept the ACC’s fine for having unauthorized people on the court before Duke and the officials could completely clear the floor on Saturday,” North Carolina said in a statement. “The video we have reviewed confirms we followed our protocols to get Duke’s players and bench personnel and the game officials off the floor safely. We will continue to review our protocols to provide the highest measures of safety in the event fans rush the court. We consider this matter closed and look forward to the rest of the season.”
UNC coach Hubert Davis added Monday that he has spoken to Scheyer since the incident, but declined to give any further details.
“I feel comfortable with the comments that (athletic director) Bubba (Cunningham) made after the game,” Davis said. “I’d like to stand by his comments.”
After UNC guard Seth Trimble hit the game-winning 3 on Saturday night, Tar Heels fans stormed the Dean Smith Center court in celebration of the apparent buzzer-beater. But an official review determined there were still 0.4 seconds left on the clock, forcing fans to clear the floor while Duke played out its final possession. After the Blue Devils failed to get a shot off, fans cascaded from their seats a second time, forcing Scheyer and his team to exit the court through UNC’s tunnel instead of the one leading to its own locker room.
Scheyer said in the game’s immediate aftermath that multiple staff members had been punched in the face, but clarified Monday that it was only the single unidentified staff member who was injured.
Cunningham said Saturday that North Carolina would review footage of the incident, and that he had apologized to Scheyer for what happened.
This is the second time in three seasons that someone from Duke has been injured in a court storm. In February 2024, after Wake Forest beat the Blue Devils in Winston-Salem, N.C., Demon Deacon fans stormed the court and appeared to injure then-Duke forward Kyle Filipowski, who held an icepack on his kneecap when he spoke to reporters later that night.