In an attempt to stop fans from storming the court after Boise State’s win against Nevada, ExtraMile security guards initiated multiple physical altercations with the game attendees.
In the video above, a guard can be seen lifting a Boise State student off her feet and removing her from the court.
In another, below, multiple guards can be seen shoving Boise State students in an effort to keep them off the court, even as other students have already successfully stormed the court, as expected. One of the students seen in the video, which was reposted by Barstool Sports, was sophomore electrical engineering major Marcus Boeck, who told The Arbiter that the efforts of the guards clearly indicates mixed messaging.
“What confuses me is that they had a rope and around 30 guys protecting the court with the rope,” said sophomore electrical engineering major Marcus Boeck. “That leads me to believe that they were told to not allow any students onto the court.”
ExtraMile Arena released a statement regarding the incident and claimed security guards were told to allow fans onto the court and not to physically engage with them.
The arena said the following in a released statement:
“ExtraMile Arena deeply regrets and apologizes for the way in which staff responded to fans trying to get on the court following last night’s men’s basketball game. We failed to implement the postgame security plan that was developed in advance of the game in consultation with the athletic department. Security staff were instructed to allow students to celebrate on the court following a victory while providing a safe exit for the opposing team and game officials. No students were to be physically restricted.”
According to B.J. Rains of Bronco Nation News, multiple Boise State students were also told by Boise State to not storm the court after the win.
Regardless of whether the security guards were told to prevent fans from storming the court, Boise State wants to do something special for students to celebrate the Mountain West conference championship and make up for the post-game frenzy.
“We will work with athletics on finding a special way for our students to celebrate the Men’s Basketball team’s Mountain West Championship,” Boise State University said in a tweet.
When asked about what Boise State could do to make up for this incident, Boeck said that he feels like it will be hard for the university to make it up to him and other fans.
“Whatever has been done has been done,” Boeck said. “I think having the security guards come out with individual apologies would be nice though. There was an apology from ExtraMile Arena, but there were no individuals that said sorry and took responsibility for what happened.”
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