Iowa’s Caitlin Clark (22) collided with an Ohio State fan as she ran off the court following the No. 18 Buckeyes 100-92 overtime win over the No. 2 Hawkeyes. Credit: Caleb Blake | Photo Editor
Chaos erupted in Value City Arena at the Schottenstein Center Sunday afternoon.
After the No. 18 Buckeyes defeated No. 2 Iowa in a 100-92 overtime victory, fans did what they normally do in big-time home victories — storm the court.
Unfortunately, a fan ran into senior guard Caitlin Clark, who was exiting the basketball court in the opposite direction.
Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff issued an apology on the podium soon after the Buckeyes’ win.
“I want to apologize to her and their entire program,” McGuff said. “She had such a spectacular performance today, and she’s such a great player. That should never happen and so I feel really bad. Hopefully, she’s okay and it doesn’t affect her moving forward.”
A video on X, formerly known as Twitter, caught the incident on camera.
The Ohio State fan, whose name is unknown at this time, is spotted running toward the crowd while holding her phone in the air. Simultaneously, Clark was running toward the Hawkeyes’ locker room. The two crashed into each other, both falling on the hardwood.
The fan looked back and can be seen getting up.
Clark, on the other hand, was on the floor in pain, with her teammates rushing to her defense.
Buckeye redshirt senior Rikki Harris, who was leaving from the mass at center court, spotted Clark fall. Harris went over to check on Clark and was pushed by an usher. The usher’s name is also unknown at the time.
The video ends after 11 seconds, but further footage shows Clark leaving the court in pain, slouching downward alongside a security officer and teammates.
A few feet in front of Clark was Hawkeyes head coach Lisa Bluder. Bluder expressed extreme frustration and disappointment during her post-game press conference. Bluder said while the Buckeyes are a great team and the environment was superb, players should be safe when exiting the floor.
“It’s unfortunate the game ended that way. Caitlin gets taken out on the floor,” Bluder said. “Gets some inappropriate words yelled at her by fans, by students; That should just not happen.”
Clark also issued a statement during the post-game conference stating that she was okay after the collision and thanked her teammates and Ohio State’s athletic director Gene Smith who personally apologized to her after the incident.
Clark said she was aware of the fans storming the court beforehand and tried her best to exit without incident.
“I was just trying to exit the court as quickly as possible so I started running and I was absolutely just hammered by somebody trying to run onto the court,” Clark said. “Basically, blindsided, and you know, kind of scary. Could’ve caused a pretty serious injury to me and knocked the wind out of me.”
Clark said it was a great environment, noting that these are the games you “love to play in.”
The Schottenstein reached its full capacity Sunday afternoon with 18,660 fans, a sellout and program record, Ohio State announced Friday.
The number is in large part due to what’s now being called “The Caitlin Clark Effect.” The star guard and 2023 National Player of the Year has drawn in fans across the country, helping sell out and break attendance records in 28 of 32 games this season.
Clark said she understands that environments of this nature can get chaotic, but is “disappointed” that the collision could have been prevented.
“You know, this is what comes with the territory,” Clark said. “I’m sure they tried their best to do whatever they could, obviously it didn’t work and that’s disappointing. But, you know, just focus now on the game and ways we can get better.”
Ohio State is set to face Iowa again on March 3, this time in Iowa City, Iowa. It will be broadcast on FOX at 1 p.m.
