09/03/26 08:07:00
Printable Page
09/03 05:00 CDT A courtroom near LSU becomes the focus of college football and
NCAA eligibility for pros
A courtroom near LSU becomes the focus of college football and NCAA eligibility
for pros
By BRETT MARTEL
AP Sports Writer
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) --- A courtroom a couple miles from LSU's Tiger Stadium
was the focus of college football Thursday, when several dozen athletes awaited
a ruling that could clear the way for them to compete in NCAA games this fall
--- even if they already turned pro.
Attorneys for the athletes, the NCAA and Southeastern Conference were slated to
appear before East Baton Rouge Parish Judge William Jorden, who scheduled a
hearing concerning the status of his earlier temporary injunction preventing
the NCAA from ruling recent former pros or fifth-year college athletes
ineligible.
Jorden also wanted the NCAA to explain why it should not be held in contempt
after the SEC and other power conferences adopted rules providing for draconian
punishments of member schools who place former NFL or NBA athletes on their
football or basketball rosters.
The players in question include former Cleveland Browns tight end Dae'Quan
Wright, former New Orleans Saints defensive lineman Zxavian Harris and former
Denver Broncos defensive back Blake Cotton, who have been recruited by new LSU
coach Lane Kiffin.
Wright, who played for Kiffin last season at Mississippi, started practicing
with No. 11 LSU this week --- too late to be eligible for Saturday's home
opener against Clemson under the NCAA's required seven days of practice, or
"acclimatization," before appearing in a game.
Harris, who also played at Ole Miss last season, has committed to LSU, while
Cotton, who played at Utah last fall, has been recruited by Kiffin.
All three are among many athletes who've argued in dozens of lawsuits around
the country that they are unfairly being denied an opportunity to spend a fifth
year in college under newly adopted NCAA rules allowing for five full years of
competition.
The athletes in the case who signed pro contracts have argued they did so only
because current rules that would have allowed them another college season
weren't adopted until after their decisions to leave school for the chance to
make an NFL roster.
Kiffin said he did not expect anyone from LSU's football program to attend the
hearing.
"This is a lot of athletes from a lot of different sports in a lot of different
states. So, we don't put any energy into it," Kiffin said. "We'll wait to get
more information ... and more guidance from the SEC."
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey was added by plaintiffs as a defendant in the
lawsuit following the league's recent move to block the return of pros to SEC
teams. He was expected to appear and potentially testify.
The SEC also filed a brief in the case on Wednesday in which it stated that the
question before the judge should be a narrow one regarding whether the
conference "can enforce and require its member institutions to comply with SEC
rules."
The SEC's proposed punishments include significant fines, up to half-season
suspensions for coaches and member universities' loss of voting on privileges
on league business matters.
Sankey provided an affidavit stating that SEC university presidents voted 15-0
in favor of the new rules, with LSU's Wade Rousse abstaining. Sankey also
argues that the SEC was acting on its own and not attempting to collude with
NCAA to stop Kiffin from bringing in ex-pros.
Meanwhile, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr reportedly sent a letter of
support to Sankey, encouraging him to take "all measures available" to punish
LSU if it added former NFL players to its 2026 roster of 105 players, which was
due to be submitted to the SEC by Friday.
Carr contends that the "substance and scope" of Jorden's previous orders
"obviously raise serious legal concerns," adding that "the more immediate
concern" is LSU's stated plans to ignore the SEC's new policy if the injunction
remains in effect.
"It is no coincidence that the very institution set to potentially use this
temporary order to flout the SEC's rule is in the trial court's own backyard,"
Carr wrote.
Louisiana attorney general Liz Murrill also weighed in, writing in a brief to
the court in support of the injunction that the NCAA had subjected the athletes
in the case to a "classic bait-and-switch."
"The NCAA's ever-changing rules have consequences beyond these individual
athletes," Murrill said. "They affect the universities that recruit them, the
other student-athletes with whom they compete, and the coaches and
administrators responsible for complying with an increasingly complicated set
of rules."
___ Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here, visit the Top 25 here and see AP's
full college football coverage here
|
