Tensions in the legal standoff between LSU and the SEC spiked Thursday when a Louisiana judge cleared the way for a pair of former NFL signees to play for the Tigers, mere hours after the conference sued one of its charter members.
The Louisiana judge, William Jorden, ruled in favor of a few dozen plaintiffs who sought a fifth year of eligibility after a recent NCAA rule change. The most notable ones: tight end Dae’Quan Wright and defensive tackle Zxavian Harris, former Ole Miss players under first-year LSU coach Lane Kiffin. Both previously signed NFL contracts as undrafted free agents.
Wright and Harris told reporters at the courthouse that they expect to be on the official team roster for LSU this weekend. One of their lawyers clarified that they are legally able to play, but it’s up to Kiffin whether they suit up and see the field. Harris told reporters he may need a couple of weeks to be available and hopes to be ready for the game against Ole Miss, his former team, on Sept. 19. Wright said he hopes to play Saturday against Clemson.
“Just putting on a college uniform again,” said Wright when asked what he’s most looking forward to about Saturday. “Going out there and having fun. Embracing my opportunity.”
In its own statement, the SEC said, “We disagree with the Court’s decision. … The Conference and its member universities have the right to establish, through agreed-upon governance procedures, the rules under which they voluntarily compete and to expect those rules to be followed.”
“Justice was served to the SEC,” said Tony Clayton, the attorney for Louisiana’s 18th Judicial District. “It was served like a cold cup of gumbo, and that judge forced them to eat it.”
Thursday’s decision, which lawyers for the SEC told reporters the league plans to appeal, sets up a fascinating drama that will play out over the next two days. LSU has until Friday night to decide whether to include both players on the roster — a move the SEC tried to block with its own legal move.
During Thursday’s hearing, the SEC separately filed a lawsuit in federal court against LSU, Kiffin and other school administrators. The SEC is seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction that would prohibit LSU from playing athletes who signed NFL contracts, arguing that doing so would violate the conference’s First Amendment rights by associating the SEC with actions that undermine its rules and core values. A similar First Amendment argument was made by the Big 12 against Texas Tech in its federal filing earlier this summer around the eligibility of quarterback Brendan Sorsby. That case has yet to move forward, though the Big 12’s argument impacted Sorsby’s decision to leave Texas Tech and accept permanent ineligibility status from the NCAA.
Essentially, the SEC wants the ability to enforce its own rules and sanctions against its member schools. The league recently approved penalties for rostering and playing athletes who signed professional contracts after leaving college, which include suspending the head coach for half the season, fines, and the loss of voting privileges on conference matters.
The SEC lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
“The SEC is asking the federal court to affirm its First Amendment rights without being overridden by state court orders that may favor individual athletes,” said Cal Stein, a sports law attorney. “The state court can interpret the Louisiana Constitution, for example, but a federal court will have the jurisdiction to rule on the United States Constitution and thus the First Amendment issue.”
In the filing, the SEC says that despite its longstanding rules “prohibiting professional athletes from returning to college athletics, Defendants saw this as an opportunity to be exploited. They began an orchestrated campaign to recruit professional athletes to join LSU’s football roster for the 2026-27 season.”
LSU’s athletic department and office of the president declined to comment on the lawsuit to The Athletic.
The SEC recently reemphasized and clarified an NCAA rule that prevents athletes who have signed professional contracts from returning to play in college football — a decision LSU voted in favor of, according to the SEC’s lawsuit. (The school did abstain from voting on the penalties.) SEC commissioner Greg Sankey testified at the Thursday hearing in Louisiana on behalf of the SEC.
“Defendants have continued their campaign to engage in willful efforts to recruit and soon roster professional athletes in direct defiance of the Professionalism Rules,” the SEC’s lawsuit reads. “Defendants’ conduct has already harmed the Conference and threatens to cause further substantial harm if not curbed.”
The SEC previously indicated it will comply with the state court ruling in Louisiana, which reinforced the immediate eligibility of Wright, Harris and more than 30 other former college athletes. The SEC’s filing in federal court also states that it is not asking to have athletes declared ineligible but rather that the conference seeks to “disassociate from conduct that directly undermines” the conference.
“It’s the same legal argument that the Big 12 raised against Texas Tech, and it is essentially that the conference has a First Amendment right to what’s called expressive association,” said Stein. “To define its own identity and define its core values.”
Stein added, “(The SEC) thinks they can win the injunction, but there’s also the deterrent effect that we saw firsthand with the Big 12 in the Texas Tech lawsuit.”
The College Football Playoff is also expected to weigh in on the eligibility issue, creating another potential hurdle for LSU or any school that wants to consider using players its conference policies deem ineligible. The CFP management committee, comprised of 10 FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director, are working on a participation policy that would punish teams in the selection process for using ineligible players, according to two people involved in the conversations who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Plaintiff attorney Ryan Downton confirmed to The Athletic that the judge included LSU in Thursday’s Louisiana ruling, and if the school opts not to roster Wright, Harris, and/or others covered under the lawsuit, Downton would ask the court to hold LSU in contempt.
The NCAA recently simplified its eligibility rules, essentially giving every athlete five years to play five seasons. The change did not, however, apply to fourth-year seniors who had just completed their eligibility. That led to a wave of lawsuits from recruits in the 2022 high school class seeking an extra year.
No. 11 LSU plays Clemson on Saturday evening in Baton Rouge. Rosters must be finalized by the end of Friday.