Duke's Jon Scheyer Responds to North Carolina DA's Comments on UNC Court-Storming Allegations

The rivalry between Duke and North Carolina is taking an interesting turn, with Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer responding to comments from Orange County district attorney Jeff Nieman about the court-storming following the Tar Heels' 71-68 win over their rival on Feb. 7.

Speaking to reporters after Duke's win over Syracuse on Monday, Scheyer directly addressed Nieman's comments about Blue Devils assistants who were caught up in the UNC fans storming the court:

"I would like to focus on Syracuse, but I'll tell you that I know what I saw and I know what happened with our staff after the game—and that's the bottom line. I'm not going to circle back or get into—I don't know what was said or wasn't said or what people want to claim. But I know what happened and I'm always going to support our staff in those situations and, again, I could have even said more but I'm not going to do that."

Scheyer told reporters during his postgame presser after the loss to North Carolina that multiple members of his coaching staff were "punched in the face" by fans on the court as they were walking to the locker room.

Nieman, who graduated from North Carolina, had a post on X on Monday afternoon disputing Scheyer's account of events, writing there was "zero evidence" any member of Duke's basketball staff was punched or trampled.

In addition to his postgame comments, Scheyer told reporters on Feb. 9 that a male staff member was doing better despite looking "like he had been in a complete brawl" immediately following the game.

ESPN's Myron Medcalf did note that video footage of the aftermath of the game appeared to show a fan throwing a bottle in the direction of Duke players and staffers.

North Carolina fans stormed the court twice at the end of the game. The first court-storming occurred when it looked like time had expired after Seth Trimble's go-ahead three-pointer, but a review of the play put 0.4 seconds back on the clock.

After officials cleared the court, Duke attempted an inbounds pass but failed to get off a shot before time expired. Fans came back onto the court with the game officially over.

The ACC fined UNC $50,000 for violating its event security policy.

North Carolina and Duke will meet again in the regular-season finale at Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 7.