Our Take

Court storming concern, RJ Davis makes history and a genius Fantasy Football punishment in the sports moments of the week

Will Saturday's court storming injury to Duke's Kyle Filipowski end a college basketball tradition? Plus, Cam Newton goes beast mode, a wacky Spring Training highlight and more!

Posted Updated

By
Clark Gerber
, WRAL Sports contributor

The internet is a big place. Unless you're 100% plugged in all the time (and let's be clear, that is NOT recommended), you're going to miss some stuff.

Let us do that work. You can be a well-adjusted human being and still catch all the best sports moments of the week, with a quick review ...

Duke launches crusade against court storming

Duke took an upset loss at Wake Forest last Saturday, but the game result quickly took a back seat because of what happened after the final buzzer.

Demon Deacon fans stormed the court, celebrating a momentous win that could go a long way toward getting them into the NCAA tournament. However, in the mayhem, multiple fans collided with Duke forward Kyle Filipowski, leaving him hobbled on his way off the court.

Turns out it was thankfully just a close call. Filipowski notched 9 points and 10 rebounds for the Blue Devils in a blowout win over Louisville on Wednesday.

However, in the three days leading up to Wednesday's game, we were treated to nationwide discourse surrounding the same question: Should court storming be banned?

It's a hot button issue that seems to be at a boiling point now, especially considering Caitlin Clark's own close call at Ohio State earlier this season.

For his part, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer left no doubt where he stands on the issue. He wants to see court stormings gone forever.
Many in the media seem to agree with Scheyer. I'm not sure that I'm one of them, but there have to be some common sense rules we can put in place to mitigate the risk to opposing players. A 10-second delay, as Scheyer mentioned, would be a good place to start.
One thing I think we can all agree on is that ESPN analyst (and Duke alum) Jay Bilas had the most over-the-top take on this whole thing when he suggested arresting all the court stormers.

Red-hot RJ Davis saves the Tar Heels

North Carolina almost gave one away to Miami on Monday night, but RJ Davis wouldn't let them.

After a rough 1/14 outing against Virginia, the senior guard was unstoppable against the Hurricanes, setting a new Smith Center record with 42 points.
It's the most points for a UNC player, at any venue, since Charlie Scott in 1970, and the first time a single Tar Heel has outscored more than half of the team's points since Michael Jordan in 1983.

Davis' performance on Monday was truly special and something that Carolina fans will remember for a long time.

There's a good chance this isn't the only piece of history that Davis claims this season. The New York native is less than 100 away from the exclusive 2,000 career point club and is also within striking distance of the single-season free throw percentage and 3-pointers made record.

Oh, and he's the clear front runner for ACC player of the year. Pretty, pretty good!

Wild week in women's hoops

I'd like to start with a quick apology to NC State. I can't help but feel that my lavish praise of them in last week's column played a small part in their two rivalry losses last week.

NC State went on the road and lost to both North Carolina and Duke by double digits, dropping them six spots to No. 12 in the latest AP Poll.
All is not lost for the Wolfpack, who gutted out a thrilling overtime victory over Syracuse on Thursday. Their status as a top-three seed in March Madness should be pretty safe, but they'll probably need to win the ACC Tournament to get back up to the 2-line.

With that said, major props are in order for the Tar Heels and Blue Devils because both of these wins were huge.

UNC had the look of a team that could do some damage once again in the big dance. They shot better than 50 percent from the field on Thursday, notching a top ten home win for the fifth straight season.

Of course, the Tar Heels have been unable to replicate that performance in their two games since -- a pair of road losses to Virginia Tech (no shame there) and Boston College (woof).

Duke didn't shoot it as well as NC State, but their defense did most of the talking as they built a big early lead en route to Sunday's win.

The Blue Devils held the Wolfpack to just 19 first half points. They rank first in the ACC in scoring defense, field goal percentage defense and blocks.

That all translates to tournament time, as does the fact that this group is battle-tested. All of a sudden, it looks like all three Triangle teams, at their best, could make a run in the Big Dance.

Cam Newton unfazed in viral brawl

News flash: It's still a very bad idea to try to mess with Cam Newton.

A viral video showed several men trying to jump the former Panthers great at a 7-on-7 football event in Atlanta this weekend. It did not go well for them.

Per Joe Person of The Athletic, the scuffle ensued the day after a “heated game” between Newton’s C1N under-18 team and TopShelf Performance’s under-18 team.

Says Person, "Individuals involved with TopShelf Performance, a wide receiver training facility in Atlanta that had youth teams in the event, approached Newton at the top of a set of steps underneath a We Ball Sports tent Sunday afternoon. Newton was grabbed and a fight ensued. Two men shown fighting with Newton were both coaches for TopShelf Performance and formerly coached with the quarterback, according to a source with knowledge of elite 7-on-7 football. The video shows Newton grabbing one of the combatants and dragging him aside, where the fracas continued. Police and security guards broke up the altercation."

So that's what we know about why the fight happened, but the big takeaway here is that Cam Newton continues to be Superman, even if he's not currently on an NFL roster.

The way he shrugged off multiple attackers as his hat stayed perfectly still the whole time is the stuff of legend.

Durham Bulls player scores on a hilarious inside-the-park home run at Spring Training

Not all home runs are built the same. Just ask Durham Bulls outfielder Kameron Misner.

The Tampa Bay Rays prospect got a home run in the box score of Sunday's Spring Training game against the Tigers, but that doesn't tell the whole story.

Misner's home run was of the inside-the-park variety, which usually comes with some shenanigans attached... but I've never seen anything like this.

Misner hit a pop fly into shallow right-center field. Four Tigers gave chase, but none of them could make the catch. Sounds like a routine bloop single, right?

Well, not this time because Detroit shortstop Andrew Navigato tripped and ended up executing a perfect scorpion kick that sent the ball further into right field!

Misner crossed home plate standing up and now has a story to tell the rest of his career. Baseball is so delightfully weird sometimes.

Blue Jays pitcher (literally) wears his Fantasy Football punishment

Speaking of Spring Training fun, we may have a new leader in the clubhouse when it comes to Fantasy Football punishments for professional athletes.

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Tim Mayza had to change his jersey number for Saturday's game, but not to anything you've seen before.

Mayza's digits read "4-10," as in, four wins and ten losses this Fantasy Football season. Ouch.

To further the humiliation, Mayza served as the bat boy against the Phillies, which is how he got away with wearing the unorthodox number.

But I'd like to see this go a step further. This should be Mayza's number the entire regular season too.

Seriously. Who does this hurt?

The idea that a jersey number has to be a whole number between 1 and 99 is outdated.

This kind of thing is fun. Sports should be fun. Make it happen, MLB!

We'll see you next week.

Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.