Jay Bilas explains how to stop fans rushing the field

Andy Staples on assaults on the field after Duke at Wake Forest | 26.02.24

Storming college basketball courts is a hot topic right now Duke center Kyle Filipowski was hit when Waking up forest fans stormed the field after Saturday’s win over the Blue Devils.

Everyone seems to agree that something needs to change, but opinions differ on what should be done.

ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas believes there is an easy way to get rid of legal attacks, but he’s not sure that’s what college administrators really want to do.

“If they wanted to stop him, they could stop him tomorrow.” Jay Bilas said Monday First take. “All you would have to do is not let them out while they are on the field. Just say, “You are all detained.” And give them all the quotes, or stop them, if you want. And then the legal assaults will stop the next day.”

This is an interesting idea from Bilas and one that would probably work. Bilas believes everyone has played a role in the growing popularity of legal attacks, but he’s not sure everyone is on the same page to stop it.

“The NCAA and member institutions will say, ‘Player safety is priority number one. There is nothing more important than the well-being of the players. But that’s just not true, because they continue to allow this and encourage it,” Bilas said. “And the truth is we encourage it in the media. We put legal attacks at the end of every highlight. We encourage it. Even if it’s banned in the SEC… institutions are happy to pay for it, because they like the visual. They like to have pictures to show and “this is how passionate we are and this is what we do.” »

Bilas has made it clear that he thinks the legal assaults should stop, but he also doesn’t expect anything to change.

Despite Kyle Filipowski’s injury, he expects the assault on the field to continue for years to come.

“It’s long overdue. Fans never have a place on the field. And the players have no place in the stands. It’s a pretty simple proposition,” Bilas said.

“There is no accountability for this. Fans feel like it’s a right. And universities love it, and the truth is we love it. Years ago, when fans would rush onto the field or court during a game, the network’s policy was not to show it, because we didn’t want to encourage it. So what does this say about how we in the media use these images today? We cannot deny that we encourage it. … Everyone has to accept some responsibility for this. I don’t think it’s the right thing to allow this, but I know it will continue. This is not going to stop.