SEC fines South Carolina for court storming after Kentucky win. Here are the details
As expected, the big bill from the party at Colonial Life Arena has arrived.
South Carolina was fined $100,000 on Wednesday after the court storming that followed the Gamecocks’ 79-62 win over No. 6 Kentucky on Tuesday night.
“The Southeastern Conference announced today that the University of South Carolina will be fined for a violation of the league’s access to competition area policy due to fans entering the court following its men’s basketball game against the University of Kentucky on January 23,” the league announced.
While it’s the second time in two years USC has had a court or field storming, it’s technically the school’s first offense under revamped conference rules.
The SEC changed its fines for court storming during its 2023 spring meetings and gave every school a clean slate heading into this year. The first offense is $100,000, the second offense is $200,000 and any following offense is $500,000.
The conference defines a court storming as spectators or any other unauthorized personnel running onto a field/court while officials and/or opponents are still on the playing surface.
SEC policy says “institutions shall limit access to competition areas to participating student-athletes, coaches, officials, support personnel and properly credentialed or authorized individuals at all times. For the safety of participants and spectators alike, at no time before, during or after a contest may spectators enter the competition area.”
The SEC’s decision does not indicate any sort of deadline for USC to make the payment.
Tuesday’s win was in front of an announced sellout of 18,000 fans and was the highest-ranked win for the program since defeating the then-No. 1 Kentucky in 2010.
This story was originally published January 24, 2024 at 1:11 PM.
