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- A Louisiana judge ruled that LSU can continue to play former professional athletes.
- The ruling followed testimony from SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey and two former players.
- The SEC has filed a federal lawsuit against LSU and can retroactively enforce penalties.
Your move, SEC.
Following proceedings Thursday, Sept. 3, inside a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, courtroom, a judge ruled LSU may continue to roster and play ex-professional athletes – on the football field, the basketball court and beyond.
The development is the effective outcome after 19th Judicial District Court Judge William Jorden’s decision following hours-long testimony from SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, as well as two of the plaintiffs in the case – former Mississippi football players Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, who are attempting to play for LSU.
Jorden granted LSU’s and the plaintiffs’ request for preliminary injunction that thwarts the SEC’s initial attempt to bar the ex-collegiate athletes who have been in NFL camps from returning to the collegiate game in quest of a fifth year of eligibility. Jorden narrowed the number of plaintiffs in the case to the seven individuals who are seeking to compete in the SEC.
The SEC responded to the decision with
“We disagree with the court’s decision,” the SEC said in a statement after the ruling. “The SEC presidents and chancellors unanimously adopted a clear and reasonable standard: Member universities should not place former professional athletes on their rosters. 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.
“The SEC will continue to defend this standard, the principle of fair competition, and the conference’s authority to govern competition among its member universities.”
The NCAA on June 23 adopted a new “age-based” eligibility model that provides current and future student-athletes five years to play five competitive collegiate seasons. The plan did not include athletes who finished their eligibility in the 2025-26 academic year, which has been under legal challenge this summer.
Jorden’s ruling came some nine hours after proceedings began, which included multiple hours of testimony from Sankey – forced to reveal on the witness stand that his SEC salary is roughly $5 million and acknowledge that he arrived for court proceedings via private air travel.
It also came after the SEC issued a legal preemptive strike as it filed suit against LSU and pertinent parties inside a federal court room — the United States District Court of Northern Alabama.
Attorney Kevin Paule, a shareholder at Florida-based Hill Ward Henderson who has in the past represented athletes in eligibility cases, marked the SEC’s legal escalation.
“This is an extreme measure by the SEC that appears less about the legal merits of the case and more of an attempt to exert leverage against LSU before the season kicks off,” Paule said. “LSU will have to evaluate how far they’re willing to push this and whether they want to take the risk of the SEC’s penalties if, and when, they are deemed enforceable.”
As USA TODAY Sports previously reported, the SEC has made clear to its 16 member institutions that it will pursue every possible legal recourse in this subject – “It’s incredibly important to the league that they keep out pros,” an executive at an SEC school told USA TODAY Sports Wednesday, Sept. 2 – and can retroactively enforce penalties per its policy and bylaws.
Those penalties include, but are not limited to, sanctioning a head coach with suspension, fining the institution’s specific program in violation of SEC policy and also revoking the school’s voting privileges on member matters.
As of the morning of Thursday, Sept. 3, there were 450 plaintiffs seeking injunctive relief for immediate eligibility at the collegiate level. Data reflect that 303 are presently eligible to compete, per the legal system, while 147 plaintiffs have been denied a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order.
Late Wednesday, Sept. 2, in the U.S. District Court of Southern West Virginia, the NCAA was a successful defendant in Trotter vs. the NCAA. U.S. District Court Judge Robert C. Chambers denied the motion for preliminary injunction for the 14 plaintiffs, headed by Dewain Boogie Trotter, per documents.