Nebraska Cornhuskers AD has plan for safer court stormings
The life and times of Nebraska Cornhuskers athletic director Trev Alberts has been an active one since coming to Lincoln. One might even call it a roller coaster ride. There's been good and there's been very, very bad surrounding the NU athletic department. At first blush, Alberts has handled it all as well as could be expected.
The latest controversy that has enveloped the Nebraska Cornhuskers has to do with court storming at the end of college basketball games. It seems like more than any year before it, court stormings are happening more often. Unfortunately, the rise in number of court stormings has also led to a rise in incidents of fans and players colliding.
Those collisions have led some to call for a ban on court stormings. At the very least people are wanting more regulations on how to deal with them. And this is where Alberts appears to be ahead of the curve.
The Huskers have been directly involved in a few court stormings this year. When the men's team upset Purdue and upset Wisconsin, the crowd stormed the floor of PBA. However, no incidents like the one that happened to Caitlin Clark at Iowa or the injury that happened to Duke's Kyle Filipowski occurred. There was even a courtstorming after the Huskers women's basketball team beat then-number-two Iowa.
Nebraska Cornhuskers AD pushes back on court storming backlash
As documented in a recent ESPN article, it appears that at least part of the reason there hasn't been an incident like that is because Alberts has been proactive.
"A Nebraska spokesperson said the school modified its protocol after fans stormed the court following a men's win against No. 1 Purdue in January -- so a visiting team would have 'a more direct and expedited path off the court.' He added that the new approach was in effect when fans stormed the court after the Huskers men defeated Wisconsin in February."
It would seem that Alberts and the Nebraska Cornhuskers have shown that banning the court storming isn't needed. What is required is for conferences and teams to come up with an actual plan. Don't just throw up their hands and ask someone else to step in.