Sports briefs
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Duke’s Scheyer wants court-storming measures
Duke coach Jon Scheyer wants the Atlantic Coast Conference to implement measures to prevent court-storming after star big man Kyle Filipowski was hobbled following a collision with a fan during a weekend loss at Wake Forest.
Scheyer said Monday that Filipowski was “a little bit sore” following the incident, which left him sporting a bag of ice on his knee after banging his right leg into the leg of a fan running by him toward midcourt.
“Absolutely we shouldn’t wait until next year, something should be done right now,” Scheyer said during the weekly league coaches teleconference, adding: “At the end of the day, players and coaches and officials are the only people that belong on a court.”
Scheyer — who initially misspoke Saturday when he said Filipowski hurt his ankle — said Monday that the preseason Associated Press All-American didn’t require any type of diagnostic internal imaging for his knee to search for a structural injury. Filipowski didn’t have a significant limp when he spoke to a few reporters after the game, though his status wasn’t immediately clear for the 10th-ranked Blue Devils’ game Wednesday against an eight-win Louisville team.
Scheyer followed his postgame call to ban court-storming with a plea for the ACC to put such a policy in place now, even with Duke down to four regular-season games and only one on the road (at North Carolina State on March 4).
The ACC requires member schools to have detailed safety procedures in place for managing court-stormings. But it historically has not levied fines, something four of the six major basketball conferences do for a first offense — such as the Southeastern Conference issuing a $100,000 penalty on LSU after its fans stormed the court following last week’s win over a ranked Kentucky team.
The ACC has no plans to issue a fine to Wake Forest, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Monday. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the league hasn’t commented publicly beyond commissioner Jim Phillips’ statement Saturday night.
Still, the image of Filipowski having to be helped off the court amid the chaos only added to the discussion on the dangers of court-storming in a season with multiple run-ins, the highest-profile one being when Iowa star Caitlin Clark was accidentally knocked down by a fan running onto the court after a January upset loss.
Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne went as far as saying he thinks teams should have to forfeit in scenarios like the Duke-Wake Forest game.
“You have two kids run out there, no, but when you have a sustained rush like what just happened the other day at Wake, you lose the game,” Byrne told reporters in Birmingham on Monday. “That will get people to stop.”
Purdue coach Matt Painter raised concerns about court-storming security measures after a loss at Nebraska, less than two weeks before Clark’s collision. And on Sunday, after his Boilermakers had beaten Michigan, Painter reiterated those concerns while noting that court-storming fans can simply overwhelm security measures set out in pregame plans.
“But also watch the weather, because when they say it’s snowing, you’ve got to be ready for the snow,” Painter told the AP. “You know Duke’s coming to town or you know Kansas is coming to town or the (then-) No. 1-ranked team in the country, UConn, is coming to town. If they get upset, it’s probably going to happen.
“Well, they probably should make a rule so it doesn’t happen, period. Just period.”
Painter went on to say: “The NCAA has got to step in here and show some leadership on this. Because what’s happened to Caitlin Clark, what happened to Filipowski, should not happen.”
It’s a position echoed by Kansas coach Bill Self, who said the court-storming at Wake Forest “was one of the quickest ones I’ve ever seen.”
“That happened so fast,” Self told a small group of reporters Monday. “And if you don’t have the proper security in a situation like that, it would be hard to imagine that fans do not come into contact with visiting players, which could lead obviously to injuries or maybe legal things down the road. I would hope they could totally do away with them.”
To Self’s point, Scheyer pointed to the risk of confrontation, noting that Jared McCain had a fan run onto the court and stop right in front of the freshman as McCain tried to exit the court Saturday.
“It would be wrong of me not to speak up for all the student-athletes that can be put in this position,” Scheyer said. “And something needs to change now before something serious happens. Go back and look at Jared McCain, and the position he was in when that game ended. Where the kid could’ve punched him in the face, he could’ve punched the kid for his own safety.
“When you get a student or a fan that close to you, face to face, 2 seconds after the game ends — we’ll regret that as college athletics, college basketball, if we don’t do something to prevent that from happening in the future.”
Former NFL MVP Cam Newton involved in scuffle
A video surfaced Sunday that appeared to show 2015 NFL Most Valuable Player Cam Newton being involved in a scuffle at a 7-on-7 youth football tournament in Atlanta.
The video shows Newton, wearing one of his custom-made hats, being shoved by three people near the top of a set of steps before the pushing, shoving and grabbing moves toward a fence line. The video lasts less than 30 seconds before the altercation is broken up by a policeman and event security at the WeBall Sports x DynastyU 7v7 tournament at B.E.S.T. Academy.
Newton, the No. 1 overall pick in 2011 out of Auburn, does not appear to throw any punches in the video and appears to be fending off three other men. There is one punch thrown in Newton’s direction, but it is unclear if the punch landed on the former quarterback.
It’s also uncertain what prompted the altercation.
Newton, who is from Atlanta, runs the C1N, an organization founded in 2021 which focuses on developing young athletes’ skills in football by providing opportunities to compete at the highest level through 7-on-7 tournaments and other events, according to Newton’s website. The website said the organization’s mission is to create an environment that fosters growth and development on and off the field, helping young athletes achieve their goals in football and life.
C1N plays in tournaments across the country.
Newton’s 15-and-under team won the championship at the event.
Attempts to reach Newton’s representatives on Sunday night were unsuccessful.
Newton hasn’t played in the NFL since 2021 when he spent a portion of the season with the Carolina Panthers, the same team that drafted him.
Newton spent 11 seasons in the NFL, throwing for more than 32,000 yards and 194 touchdowns. He also ran for 75 TDs during his time with the Panthers and New England Patriots.
Former NFL star
Richard Sherman’s
bail set at $5,000
SEATTLE | Bail was set at $5,000 on Monday for former NFL star Richard Sherman following his weekend arrest for suspicion of driving under the influence.
Sherman was pulled over just before 2 a.m. Saturday for driving 79 mph in a 60 mph zone on Interstate 405 south of Seattle, Washington State Patrol Trooper Jordan Hazzard-Thomas wrote in a probable cause statement. His eyes were bloodshot and watery, he smelled of intoxicants, and he declined to take a breath test, Hazzard-Thomas wrote.
After spending the weekend in the King County Jail in Seattle, Sherman waived his right to appear at a bail hearing Monday. His bail was set at $5,000, and his attorney, Jon Scott Fox, said he expected Sherman to be processed and released quickly.
Fox otherwise declined to comment on the arrest, saying it was too early to say anything else.
Sherman, a three-time All-Pro cornerback, had an 11-year NFL career and helped lead the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl title during the 2013-14 season. He also was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s All-Decade Team of the 2010s.
Sherman spent seven seasons in Seattle before going to San Francisco for three. He also played for Tampa Bay, and during his college years at Stanford University.
More recently he worked as a football analyst.
Sherman in 2022 pleaded guilty in Seattle to two misdemeanor charges stemming from a drunken driving and domestic disturbance the year before. He also admitted to a criminal infraction of speeding in a roadway construction zone.
Sherman’s next court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday.
Dodgers say Shohei
Ohtani will make his spring training debut
GLENDALE, Ariz. | Spring training Sho-time starts Tuesday with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Shohei Ohtani will make his exhibition debut with the Dodgers when he serves as the designated hitter for Los Angeles on Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox.
Los Angeles has been taking it slowly with the two-way star, who signed a record $700 million, 10-year contract during the offseason. The two-time MVP is coming off right elbow surgery last September that will keep him from pitching this year.
Ohtani did take live batting practice on Sunday, with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts saying the sport’s biggest star looked “good” and will play his first exhibition game Tuesday.
The 29-year-old Ohtani is further along in his recovery than Los Angeles anticipated, and the team hopes he will be available when the Dodgers and the San Diego Padres play a two-game series in Seoul, South Korea, on March 20 and 21.
“Most importantly is his health,” Roberts told reporters. “So if it lines up, great. And if it doesn’t, then we’ll still move on from there.”
Case possibly containing Wayne Gretzky rookie cards sells for $3.7M
REGINA, Saskatchewan | A case of old hockey cards possibly containing the game’s Great One has fetched more than $3.7 million after it was discovered in a Regina home.
Heritage Auctions says the winning bidder bought the case of 16 sealed boxes of O-Pee-Chee’s 1979 hockey card collection, amounting to more than 10,000 cards. The auctioneer says the case could include 25 or more highly coveted Wayne Gretzky rookie cards.
A man in Regina had kept the case in a packed storage room. The auctioneer says the longtime collector asked to remain anonymous.
A company spokesperson has said he doesn’t expect the winning bidder will open the boxes, as they are rarer than the rookie cards.
—From AP reports
