Watch wheelchair court stormer get knocked over after victory

By Houston Mitchell

Jan. 14, 2013 12 AM PT

North Carolina State student Will Privette refused to let the fact that he is in a wheelchair stop him from celebrating the Wolfpack’s 84-76 victory over No. 1 Duke on Saturday. And he has no regrets, even after being knocked over by a swarm of students who were also celebrating the win.

The moment, caught on video, was a scary situation that turned out to have a happy ending.

“Two years ago when we beat Duke, I rushed the court,” he told radio station WRAL. “But I waited for the first round of people to go. That was my original plan today, just to do that. ... But student body president Andy Walsh asked me if I wanted him to push me. As soon as the buzzer rang, we rushed.”

Privette said that when he was knocked over, he became worried, but not about his own safety.

“I was worried about my glasses and my phone, as sad as that is,” he said.

Wolfpack forward C.J. Leslie saw what was happening and told everyone to get back. He went over to Privette, put him back in his wheelchair and celebrated with him after determining he was OK.

“I just saw him there and people were surging in around him,” said Leslie, who scored a game-high 25 points in the game. “I knew it could end up a bad situation.”