Iowa Apologizes After Fan Confronts Nebraska's Fred Hoiberg While Court Storming

A fan with a cell phone confronted Hoiberg, who swatted away the phone and inadvertently struck an Iowa staffer in the process.

Hoiberg's No. 9 Cornhuskers were upset on the road by the Iowa Hawkeyes. | Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

The University of Iowa on Wednesday apologized for a fan’s actions towards Nebraska men’s basketball coach Fred Hoiberg in the midst of a court-storming following Iowa's 57-52 upset win over No. 9 Nebraska on Tuesday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“The University of Iowa Athletics’ Department implemented its court-intrusion guidelines following last evening’s Iowa vs. Nebraska men’s basketball game,” the university said in a statement obtained by KETV sports director Andy Kendeigh.

“Unfortunately, an individual gained access to the court through a restricted area, directly confronting Coach Hoiberg and putting Nebraska players, coaches and staff in a reactive situation. We apologize for this incident and will conduct a review of our procedures and security measures to determine what adjustments may be needed to further strengthen our protocols and help prevent similar incidents in the future.”

What happened between Fred Hoiberg and an Iowa fan?

pic.twitter.com/kIxSZtqLuL

— Certified Ball Knower 🇺🇸 (@CrtfdBallKnower) February 18, 2026

After the final seconds ticked off the clock of the Hawkeyes’ win, Iowa fans stormed the court while Hoiberg headed towards the postgame handshake line. A fan holding a cell phone ran up to the Cornhuskers coach and got in his face, prompting Hoiberg to swat away the cell phone out of the fan’s hands, inadvertently hitting an Iowa staffer in the process. Hoiberg can be seen on the video embracing the staffer and pointing in the direction of the fan as the staffer nodded.

The Big Ten said in its own statement that it had discussed the incident with both universities and that no discipline would be taken against Hoiberg for striking the Iowa staffer, according to Amie Just of the Lincoln Journal Star.

The incident with Hoiberg comes on the heels of another court-storming fiasco. After North Carolina’s Feb. 7 upset win over Duke, Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer accused a Tar Heels fans of punching one of his staff members in the scrum.

Days later, Scheyer told reporters that the staffer had a bloody lip.

“He got hit in the face, got trampled, looked like he had been in a complete brawl after the game and he’s doing better now, but that should never happen,” Scheyer said. “And that’s exactly what happened.”

The Orange County District Attorney Jeff Nieman said that there was “zero evidence” that the Duke staffer was punched or trampled while Tar Heels fans stormed the court.

A week has passed, and what seemed likely is now patently obvious. There is zero evidence that anyone from Duke’s basketball program was “punched in the face” at the Smith Center last week. Nor is there any evidence that a staffer was “trampled on the floor” or “in a complete…

— DA Jeff Nieman (@JeffNiemanNC) February 16, 2026

The ACC fined North Carolina $50,000 for violating “the league’s event security policy.”

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