Last February, the court inside the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum was flooded by a storm shortly after Wake Forest Men’s Basketball’s 83-79 victory over the Duke Blue Devils.

It was a court storm.

Students wildly rushed onto the court with little regard for fan or player safety. Duke star and forward Kyle Filipowski was injured in the madness, sparking a national debate over the legality of court-storming in college sports.

“When are we going to ban court-storming?” said Duke Men’s Head Basketball Coach Jon Scheyer in a post-game interview. “It’s a dangerous thing.”

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Two weeks ago, the North Carolina Tar Heels and the No. 2-ranked Blue Devils came back to Winston-Salem to battle against the Demon Deacons. The matchups between these fierce in-state rivals promised a massive turnout from the student body. Like last year against Duke and Kyle Filipowski, tie-dye nation showed up. 

The revitalization of tie-dye nation 

Wake Forest Athletics hasn’t always been like this. Tie-dye nation, which started in 2003, was a signature theme for home basketball games that fizzled out during the 2010s due to poor team performance and a lack of student involvement.

From 2010 to 2020, Wake Forest’s basketball team did not achieve a single 20-win season, with nine of those seasons finishing with a record below .500.

After COVID-19, the University made a massive change. First, when Head Coach Steve Forbes was hired in 2020, the school and its high-profile donors directed more funds toward student engagement in athletics.

“We view our students as one of the most important parts of our athletics department,” Associate Athletic Director of fan experience and revenue generation Corey Raymond said. “We’re not afraid, even if students aren’t direct revenue for us, to make our students a priority.”

Raymond recognized that student voices are crucial to everything he and his team do. That’s why Wake Forest has begun to enlist student help. Screamin’ Demons is a student-run organization that promotes the involvement of Wake Forest’s students in athletics. After the organization was halted during COVID-19, William Burns and Clay Matthews, two lifelong Wake Forest fans and current students, took the initiative to bring it back to life. 

“Screamin’ Demons is the heart of the student section at Wake Forest,” Matthews said.  “It’s getting Wake Forest students involved in athletics and creating events to incentivize students to come to games.”

Both Burns and Matthews outlined some of the organization’s accomplishments within the past year of operation. The largest includes obtaining part of a $5 million donation this past year from Wake Forest superfan Mit Shah.

This donation also revitalized the tie-dye nation.

Burns, a Winston-Salem native, described how reigniting the tie-dye tradition was a goal of his ever since the return of Screamin’ Demons. 

“When I was a kid, I would watch Chris Paul, Jeff Teague, and Ish Smith,” Burns said. “The student section was always packed. It was all tie-dye.”

Junior forward Owen Kmety talked about how he and his teammates feel the energy from students, especially during tie-dye games.

“Going out on the floor, and seeing people go nuts like that, it gets you juiced up,” Kmety said. “Like I can even feel it, and it makes me just excited to be there.”

Shah’s donation also funded the student tailgates for basketball games. Every football game in recent years had a successful student tailgate, making its addition desirable for the basketball program.

“How do we make the atmosphere even better?” Raymond said. “We know that people are going to line up hours before the game, why not give them some free food? Why not play some music?”

Prioritizing safety

Though the athletics department encourages fan enthusiasm, they remain committed to safety.

“Safety is going to be a really big priority for this game,” Raymond said. “We know what happened last year when Duke came, and we want to try to avoid that at all costs this year.”

Raymond emphasized the attention to detail that Wake Forest puts toward restricting court access to only allow authorized personnel.  He spoke about the university’s mission to maintain a safe environment before, during and after each game.

The university even hired local security personnel to ensure strict access to the floor at all times. Much of the safety regulations in and around the stadium were coordinated with Rhino Security, explained Sophomore Clio Rao, who is the fan experience and sales intern for the athletic department. 

“Every student got a wristband and was handed a slip of paper that was a reminder to stay off the court,” said Rao. “Only authorized personnel are allowed on the court.”

Even after a tough loss against an impressive Duke team, both Burns and Matthews had a positive reflection of the game and its atmosphere.

“Those memories from [the Duke game] are moments that make it all worth it,” said Matthews. “You feel like you’ve made a difference.”

“I cried [on the day of the game],” Burns said. “It makes you emotional because you realize how much it means to the university, to the school and every single student.”