The legal battle between Louisiana State University and the Southeastern Conference intensified significantly when the conference filed a federal lawsuit against the school over the potential addition of players with NFL ties.
The dispute centers on the NCAA’s new “five-for-five” eligibility rule, which dictates that athletes have five years to play five seasons of college sports. A Louisiana court ruling on August 19, issued by Judge William Jorden of the 19th District Court, granted a preliminary injunction allowing athletes who exhausted their eligibility during the previous academic year to return to college competition.
The court-protected group includes former Ole Miss players Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris. Both athletes informed OutKick that they expected the Tigers to add them to the roster for the upcoming season. However, according to multiple sources, LSU did not add Wright or Harris to its roster by the Friday deadline ahead of the season’s opening games.
Under an exemption enacted by the SEC this past April, teams can add players to their roster if they are enrolled full-time in classes. Sources indicated that while LSU bypassed the Friday deadline, the school retains the option to add Wright or Harris at a later point during the season.
### Federal Lawsuit Filed in Alabama
The SEC’s legal action, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, names LSU, Lane Kiffin, university president Wade Rousse, and athletics director Verge Ausberry as defendants. The conference is seeking an injunction to overrule the Louisiana court’s decision.
According to the SEC complaint, defendants engaged in a coordinated campaign to recruit professional athletes to play for LSU, including players who signed NFL contracts with the Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
During the Louisiana court proceedings, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey testified under oath regarding the conference’s position. Three minutes into Sankey’s testimony, news broke of the federal lawsuit filed in Alabama.
“We established our First Amendment right for freedom of association, so that our conference can make decisions and our members can make decisions about membership,” Sankey stated in court.
On August 25, SEC presidents, chancellors, and athletics directors unanimously adopted a policy making it a violation of conference bylaws to roster players with professional experience. Conference leadership authorized Sankey to enforce the rules with substantial fines and a 50% suspension for any head coach whose program violates the guidelines.
### Administrative Decision at LSU
The choice on whether to add players with professional ties involved high-level institutional discussions rather than a unilateral decision by the football coach. Throughout Thursday evening and Friday, Governor Jeff Landry, President Wade Rousse, and university legal counsel held intensive conversations regarding the roster deadline.
Attorney Ryan Downton noted to OutKick that had LSU rostered Wright and Harris before subsequently removing them, legal representation was prepared to return to the Louisiana courthouse to file a contempt of court order against the university.
With the roster deadline passed and the players unlisted for the team’s opening matchup against Clemson, ongoing legal arguments are expected to continue in federal and state courts as other institutions monitor the outcome.
