Caitlin Clark’s collision with a fan raises court-storming concerns. Will conferences respond

The visual of one of the nation’s most popular athletes knocked to the floor after a fan who was staring at her phone collided with her while storming the court was a stark reminder of the dangers athletes face when crowds get out of control.

Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark was shaken up but not injured in the collision, which occurred Sunday as she headed toward the locker room with teammates following a 100-92 loss to then-No. 18 Ohio State in Columbus.

It was the second time in less than two weeks that fans have stormed the court at the end of a Big Ten game. It happened Jan. 9 in Lincoln when the Nebraska men knocked off then-No. 1 Purdue. Boilermakers coach Matt Painter said afterward game management personnel need to be better prepared to protect athletes caught up in the commotion.

Of the six major basketball conferences, four fine host schools for a first offense of failure to keep fans off the court. The ACC does not levy fines and the Big Ten waits until a third offense.

“We try not to be too heavy-handed on the policy of court-storming for a problem that doesn’t necessarily exist. … Don’t want to unfairly financially hurt already cash-strapped athletic departments,” Big Ten vice president of strategic communications Scott Markley said Monday in an interview with The Associated Press.

“But we do have a policy,” he said. “But generally it’s rely on school policy, local law enforcement, (to) know what’s best for their fans and student-athletes and officials. And we’re always monitoring these things and discuss if we need to make adjustments in the interest of a safe environment.”

Jan Jensen, Iowa’s associate head coach, told the AP on Monday that Clark reported no after-effects from the collision. Clark is the reigning national player of the year and is on the cusp of becoming the all-time leading scorer in Division I women’s basketball.

“When you have an athlete that hits the turf — but then you have arguably the highest-profile college athlete — this might spark the debate about what do we need to do with this,” Jensen said.