Don’t expect courtside food deliveries at Duquesne basketball games in the future.
Duquesne issued a statement Thursday regarding Wednesday night’s viral moment of an Uber Eats delivery person wandering onto the court during the Dukes’ game against Loyola Chicago.
The game was briefly paused after a man in a yellow jacket holding a bag of McDonald’s walked onto the floor — a few feet from where Loyola Chicago’s Philip Alston was holding the ball. He was shown a couple of minutes later, walking around the concourse level, looking to track down the person who ordered the food.
According to Duquesne, it was not the bizarre yet organic moment it initially appeared to be. It was a prank.
“We strive to provide a safe and enjoyable environment for guests and participants at all events on our campus. We also rely on common courtesy and the civility of those in attendance to adhere to the guidelines that are in place,” the school said in a statement. “This was a prank, planned in advance, done for internet exposure. We determined that the individual was wearing a mic while someone filmed him as he walked on to the court during active play. While the incident may have seemed funny at the time, and no harm was done, we are mindful that incidents like this can put players and officials at risk.
“The University has reviewed its safety protocols and tightened its security measures to ensure conditions for our players and fans are safe and meet the standards for the highest level of competition in college basketball.”
After the game, Austin Hansen, an assistant athletic director at Loyola, speculated that the whole thing might be part of a social media stunt. Hansen noted that the delivery person was “wearing a microphone, and tons of students were filming him with their phones.”
It prompted security questions about how someone was able to access the court so easily in the middle of a game, but for most onlookers, it was an entertaining moment in an otherwise tense Atlantic 10 game.
“Only at Duquesne can a guy deliver food on the court during the game,” Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot told reporters after the game. “Craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my life, other than when I was an assistant at Eastern Michigan, we had these friends of ours that were good fans. And they got the ice cream guy to deliver the ice cream to the coach coaching the game, during the game. The closest thing I’ve seen to that.”