LSU coach Lane Kiffin defended the potential for bringing in players who were just on NFL teams, while denying he called Cleveland Browns coach Todd Monken to ask about one of them.<\/p>\n
A judge\u2019s ruling has opened the door for certain players to return to college: Fifth-year players whose eligibility was up under old NCAA rules, then were not grandfathered in when the NCAA changed its rule this summer to allow players a fifth year of eligibility, no matter how much they played their first four years.<\/p>\n
While the NCAA has won a stay of a nationwide injunction covering the entire Class of 2022, some players are still allowed to return to school by state-level injunctions related to their specific cases. That includes Louisiana, where tight end Dae\u2019Quan Wright<\/a>, who played for Kiffin at Ole Miss and had been in camp with the Cleveland Browns, has entered the transfer portal with the intention of going to LSU. Defensive lineman Zxavian Harris, who also played for Kiffin at Ole Miss and had spent the summer with the New Orleans Saints, is also bound for LSU according to a CBS Sports report<\/a>.<\/p>\n LSU is also reportedly set to get former Notre Dame defensive end Junior Tuihalamaka, who did not sign an NFL contract. They are among nearly 30 athletes, including 16 football players, who were covered by an injunction issued Friday<\/a> by a Louisiana judge.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy are we recruiting them? Because we may end up playing against them,\u201d Kiffin said. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t think I\u2019m unique. I think these guys are being recruited by a lot of guys across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n Kiffin opened his news conference Monday by reading a statement that confirmed LSU was recruiting multiple players who had received injunctions, without naming them. He pointed out that this was a unique case tied to only this year\u2019s players, and he does not expect it to be the new normal.<\/p>\n \u201cIn general, should NFL players come back to college \u2026 that answer would be no,\u201d Kiffin said. \u201cThis is a very unique circumstance \u2026 The judge found that these players should have been told, and should have known they were going to be eligible for a fifth year, that they should have known that in December when they were making decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n But it\u2019s still unclear whether Wright would be eligible by SEC rule to transfer to LSU, even if the injunction holds up. The SEC has a rule that players cannot transfer within the conference if it marks their second transfer. Wright played his first two college seasons at Virginia Tech before playing for Ole Miss in 2024 and \u201925.<\/p>\n The SEC office has been mum on the LSU situation so far. SEC presidents are due to meet this week, and commissioner Greg Sankey has already sided against one of his schools in a similar case when Alabama\u2019s men\u2019s basketball team tried to bring in Charles Bediako<\/a> earlier this year after he\u2019d been in an NBA camp. The NCAA won out in that case.<\/p>\n Kiffin did not address a question about whether he thinks the SEC rule would apply, saying he could not comment on specific players.<\/p>\n But he did offer a response to Monken, who said Saturday that Kiffin had reached out to him and he didn\u2019t respond.<\/p>\n