Hopkins on Fans Rushing Floor

UW coach Mike Hopkins talked about the dangers of fans on the court.

Transcript

00:00 >> I'm curious about your take on the national court storming discussion.

00:06 >> Yeah. >> That has come back up and

00:06 is always popping back up.

00:09 What's your thoughts on court storming?

00:10 Does something need to be done in that regard?

00:12 >> You know what, it's a great question.

00:13 I've been a part of a lot of them.

00:15 [LAUGH] One that was, it looked like the players were gonna start fighting.

00:21 And it was where the game they thought it was over, they rushed the floor,

00:27 and they still had to go to the monitor because it was at the end and

00:31 had to get everybody back off.

00:32 So it was one of those.

00:35 And I think as a fan or as a coach and you're trying to get your program,

00:41 like when we beat the Zags and they rushed the floor,

00:43 I always feel like it's one of those memorable moments as a student that you go.

00:49 Obviously the safety of everybody is the most important part.

00:52 I saw the Caitlin Clark deal and I've never seen anything like that.

00:56 I mean, it was blindside and that was scary, really scary.

01:00 When I was at Syracuse, the one thing I thought that they did a great job of

01:07 is there was security around with a rope.

01:10 And then when everybody kind of, the game was over and

01:14 they were in line shaking hands, then they let them on the floor.

01:19 So I don't know what the right thing is.

01:22 Obviously, the most important thing is the safety and

01:25 seeing Filipowski get hit, seeing Caitlin Clark.

01:28 I mean, it was almost like when you watch the running of the Bulls.

01:32 They're coming out of there like sprinting rather than just

01:38 an array to show the camaraderie and maybe after a football game and

01:41 they're around in the middle, everybody's hugging each other and excited.

01:45 I mean, they're coming out there, I don't know why there's a sprint.

01:48 Like I don't know why the student, and again,

01:52 there's like when you see the running of the Bulls.

01:54 If you ever watch a documentary, you're like seeing that happen.

01:58 And so I don't know what the right answer, but

02:00 the most important thing is the safety of the student athletes.

02:03 I know in Arkansas, again, when we had it, they're hugging our players and

02:08 our players are, there's this elation and joy that's,

02:13 probably you have it once or twice or maybe three times in your career and

02:18 you want that moment.

02:18 But you definitely don't want what happened to Caitlin Clark and Filipowski.