I went to a high school basketball game last night between the Wake Forest-Rolesville Cougars and the Heritage Huskies. At the conclusion of the game, the Wake Forest-Rolesville student section took part in a tradition that was typically regarded as a solely collegiate athletics related: They stormed the court.
That was the first time I’ve ever seen a storming of the court at a high school game. After speaking with the Cougars’ head coach, he explained the recent history of the rivalry between the schools and why it means so much to them.
After witnessing that event and talking to the coach, it supplanted my attitude towards the storming the court. It’s a played-out gesture that is sadly no longer used sparingly.
The fact that it’s even gotten down to the high school level is mind-boggling. Even the coach said the students are just trying to be like the students at N.C. State and North Carolina.
Two of the most unnecessary court-storming events happened this season. Following LaSalle’s one-point win against Butler, the students took to the court to celebrate. Yes, it was a tightly contested game, but the Bulldogs had already lost two other games to that point and were nowhere near being the No. 1 team in the nation.
The next court-storming that was puzzling to me was when Maryland students expressed their elation after defeating N.C. State on a tip-in rebound by Alex Len. Again, it’s a win you should celebrate, but it wasn’t that great. The ACC is one of the deepest conferences in the country; anyone can lose on any given night (just ask Duke).
Plus, the Wolfpack was ranked No. 14 in The Associated Press’ top-25 poll — definitely not court-storming worthy.
Those are only two examples of unnecessary expressions of jubilation in a pool of many from this season alone. So, with this unnecessary court storming running rampant in college basketball, let’s establish some rules for when court storming is appropriate.
First, if your home team beats the No. 1 AP top-25 team in the nation at home and the home team is ranked worse than No. 10 in the nation, then it’s definitely OK to take to the court, no question about it. I know it will become stale with the current pattern of No. 1 teams falling like flies, but it’s still justified.
Also, if your home team beats a team that is currently undefeated in college basketball after 15 or more games, then the fans can legitimately storm the court.
Those are the only two occasions for rushing the court. It’s becoming more wary on the college basketball fan base to the point where it’s no longer a sacred tradition.
With that, I do commend the N.C. State student section for not storming the court after beating Carolina despite many expecting it to do so.
Let’s do everyone a favor and keep the tradition cherished.