As if losing on the road to Wake Forest wasn’t bad enough, Duke got an injury on top of that insulting defeat as star center Kyle Filipowski suffered a sprained ankle when Demon Deacon fans stormed the court in celebration of their 83-79 upset of the eighth-ranked Blue Devils.
With only four regular-season games left before the ACC tournament, Filipowski has his work cut out to make it back and be at his best for the Big Dance. What’s more, the loss at Wake will hinder Duke’s chances for a No. 1 regional seed in March Madness.
Duke basketball has been a convenient villain for as long as I can remember, but you have to feel for the Blue Devils here. They’re flourishing under head coach Jon Scheyer, himself an ex-Dukie heel who had the unenviable task of being Mike Krzyzewski’s successor. A year removed from making the NCAA Tournament as a 5-seed, the powerhouse program is right back among the nation’s true elite. Filipowski’s continued improvement as a sophomore is a big part of that winning equation.
So you can’t blame Scheyer for being a little hot under the collar at the podium:
“For me, I’m more concerned about the well-being of our guys. Flip sprains his ankle.
When are we going to ban court storming? Like, when are we gonna ban them? How many times does a player have to get into something where they get punched, or they get pushed, or they get taunted right in their face?
It’s a dangerous thing. […] When I played, at least it was 10 seconds and then you would storm the court. Now, the buzzer doesn’t even go off, and they’re running on the floor.”
To his credit, Scheyer still made sure to acknowledge the excellent effort the Demon Deacons put forth. Gonzaga transfer Hunter Sallis dropped 29 points on 11-of-13 shooting to lead Wake’s charge. They did deserve to win. Just maybe next time, all y’all out-of-pocket fans, don’t run onto the court right when the game ends? Give the players a little daylight. You never know what can happen. What if it was a case of friendly fire and a Wake student happened to collide with one of their own players? That just as easily could’ve happened.
As Scheyer alluded to, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark nearly got taken out in a court-storming situation last month, although at least in her case, she wasn’t injured.
Filipowski has the chance to be a fringe lottery pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. Unclear at this point if he’d go pro or not. A big factor in that decision may be how deep the Blue Devils go in the NCAA Tournament. If he’s hampered by this ankle issue, Duke isn’t liable to make it very far.
It’s one thing to go down in the heat of a highly competitive basketball game. It’s another sh*t sandwich to scarf down entirely when you’re injured under circumstances that don’t have anything to do with the actual game. That is the reality Kyle Filipowski is currently confronting.
Prayers up to Filipowski for a swift, speedy and full recovery. Regardless of whether you love to hate Duke or not, any college hoops fan who isn’t a moron want to see all the best teams in the Big Dance as close to full strength as possible.
