Purdue's Matt Painter Calls on Big Ten Schools To Address Court Storming Concerns
Purdue fell victim to another court storm on Tuesday, with Nebraska defeating the top-ranked Boilermakers 88-72 at Pinnacle Bank Arena. It's become a trend in road losses for the Boilers in recent years and coach Matt Painter has some concerns.
Following Purdue's loss to the Huskers, Painter mentioned that the Big Ten has an issue on its hands — one that his team has faced multiple times over the last three seasons.
"We gotta do something about the court storms, guys," Painter said, bringing up the matter before he could be asked about it. "I just don't know why institutions aren't ready for it. Like, what did you think was gonna happen if they won? Spread the word. Spread the word before somebody gets hurt."
To be clear, Painter isn't against fans storming the court after a game. It's an opportunity for students to celebrate a big win. In Nebraska's case, it was the program's first victory over a top-ranked team in 41 seasons.
Where the Purdue coach seems to have an issue is with schools lacking preparedness.
"You know, a student from Nebraska should be able to storm the court, right? Like, we're cool," he said. "Just get ready for it, if that's what you're gonna do. We're struggling in our conference with that.
"Our freshmen, sophomores and juniors have never lost a road game without a court storm. Think about that. Think about that. Put that in your article."
Matt, if you're reading this, I did put that in my article. I appreciate the tip.
On a serious note, Painter did point to safety concerns regarding court storms. While he didn't have any specific ideas to help curb the issue, he did mention having better security or roping off certain sections to protect players, coaches and workers inside arenas.
"Someone's gonna get hurt. It's gonna be a student. Could be one of Nebraska's guys, could be one of our guys, could be someone working the scorer's bench," he said. "Could be anybody. But like, I don't know why people don't get ahead of it. It's happened a lot and I just don't understand that."
In this instance, Painter isn't the "old man yelling at clouds." He's fine with the idea of fans celebrating a big win, even at Purdue's expense.
He just wants schools to be prepared for these situations.
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