The Atlantic Coast Conference fined North Carolina $50,000 on Sunday after fans stormed the court in the No. 14 Tar Heels’ 71-68 upset of No. 4 Duke one night earlier in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Duke coach Jon Scheyer had said at his postgame news conference that members of his staff were punched by people storming the court after North Carolina’s Seth Trimble hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left.
The ACC said in a statement that the University of North Carolina was fined for violating the league’s event security policy.
“The conference’s event security policy is designed to protect the safety and well-being of all student-athletes, coaches, officials and fans,” the ACC said, noting that the fine of $50,000 is for a first offense.
North Carolina released a statement on Sunday after the fine was announced.
“We accept the ACC’s fine for having unauthorized people on the court before Duke and the officials could completely clear the floor on Saturday,” it read. “The video we have confirms we followed our protocols to get Duke’s players and bench personnel and the game officials off the floor safely. We will continue to review our protocols to provide the highest measures of safety in the event fans rush the court. We consider this matter closed and look forward to the rest of the season.”
There actually were two court-storming incidents, as time was left on the clock after Trimble’s basket. Fans had to leave the court for Duke to run another play before the final buzzer and another rush to the court.
“For me, it’s hard for me to talk about the game when I was most concerned just for the safety of our players after the game,” Scheyer said on Saturday night. “I don’t want to make it about that because Carolina, they played a great game to win, and that’s a heartbreaking loss for our team.
“I got staff members that got punched in the face. My family pushing people away, trying to not get trampled. And that’s not what this game is about. You give them all the credit in the world. It’s not about the game, but obviously that was a scary ending, and this rivalry is not about that.”
North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham told reporters after the game that he apologized to Scheyer.
“When they rushed the court, a number of people got knocked over,” Cunningham said on Saturday night. “But then we had to clear the court again. So, when we normally have something like just rushing the court and the game is over, we do have a line by the benches to get people off safely.
“Obviously, if somebody got injured, that’s just really, really disappointing,” he said. “We’ll do the best we can to make sure that doesn’t happen, but again, my apologies to Duke for that.”
The league said that all fines collected under the policy go to a scholarship fund for ACC student-athletes pursuing graduate education.
–Field Level Media
