Basketball commentator and ESPN analyst, Jay Bilas, has prominently come to the fore, criticizing the rampant trend of court storming in NCAA college basketball.
The incident that returned the court storming conversation to the spotlight was the overwhelming response of the Demon Deacons’ fans to their victory against the Blue Devils.
Taking the center stage on ESPN’s First Take, Bilas didn’t hold back in expressing his stern belief to put an end to the practice of court storming.
ESPN's Jay Bilas on court storming: "If they wanted to stop it, they could stop it tomorrow… You don't have to stop the court storming. One time, all you have to do is once they're on the court, don't let them off. Just say, 'You're all detained' and give them all citations or… pic.twitter.com/Bdbb0SZTDy
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 26, 2024
“The truth is, nothing’s going to change now. We’re going to talk about it, it’s going to go away, and nothing’s going to change. And if they wanted to stop it, they could stop it tomorrow. The administrations all use that security consultants tell them that it’s not a good idea to try stop the court storming, because that could cause more problems than it would solve.
“But you don’t have to stop the court storming. One time, all you have to do is once they’re on the court, don’t let them off. Just say, ‘You’re all detained,’ and give them all citations, or arrest them if you want to. And then court stormings will stop the next day.”
The analyst’s strong comments suggested that fans, universities, and the media held the shared blame for the increase of court storming.
“There’s no accountability for this “The fans feel like it’s an entitlement,” Bilas said, And the universities like it. And the truth is, we like it.”
Shifting his attention to the role of media, Bilas argued that its coverage contributes to boosting the trend.
Jay Bilas calls out the media for being complicit in encouraging court storming.
"It was network policy not to show that because we didn't want to encourage it. So what does that say about the way we in the media use these images now? We can't deny that we encourage it. Or at… https://t.co/1143SQbEzY pic.twitter.com/Nut1BtmKdP
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 26, 2024
He observed that, contrary to earlier times, contemporary network policies don’t refrain from focusing on these incidents anymore, giving them a wider audience and thus, indirectly promoting them.
“Years ago, when fans would run out on the field or on the court during a game, it was network policy not to show that because we didn’t want to encourage it. So what does that say about the way we in the media use these images now? We can’t deny that we encourage it. Or at least tacitly approve of it.”
Despite his passionate plea for a change, Bilas expressed doubts about seeing a real shift in the prevailing court storming scenario.
“Everybody has to accept the responsibility for this. I don’t think it’s the right thing to allow this. But I know that it’s going to continue. This is not going to stop.”
He has been a consistent critic of the practice over the years, making his views clear on several platforms.
“Fans do not belong on the court ever.”
Agree or disagree with @JayBilas? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/7st6UgrL85
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) January 27, 2024
“The passion of it is great. I love the passion. Fans do not belong on the court. Ever. Ever. And players don’t belong in the stands. ”
Nevertheless, Bilas feels that the current fines imposed by conferences like the SEC are ineffectual in deterring fans.
“In the Southeastern Conference, the conference has deemed that a violation that will cost you a fine of 100,000. South Carolina stormed the court, and the President Emeritus ran out and promoted him running out on his own social media channel,” Bilas said. “They don’t care – they’ll pay it just for the visual, and put the pictures up in the locker room for recruiting. We love it. We put it on TV at the end of every highlight. We promote it – all media companies do. When somebody gets hurt, we’re going to get serious about it.”
