BATON ROUGE — Lane Kiffin arrived on the set of ESPN's College GameDay around 10 a.m. local time with a look of determination. He still flashed a peace sign at LSU fans who cheered him as he walked, but otherwise didn't break stride.
Draped in a white **** on down and grey slacks, Kiffin was several hours away from making his debut as Tigers head coach. But first, he had some questions to answer about a massive and consequential decision.
On Friday night, LSU decided not to add Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris to its final roster—a shocking turn after the players, as well as LSU itself, fought a legal battle for the right to take the field as Tigers.
Wright and Harris were just two of hundreds of college athletes who have sued the NCAA to challenge the implementation of its "age-based" eligibility policy, which offered a fifth year of eligibility to college athletes—but didn't include players from the freshman class of 2022 who had already completed, like them. But their lawsuit drew national news because they had signed NFL contracts, though both were waived before making regular-season roster. A multipart legal battle ensued after the SEC issued a ban on players with this NFL experience, and the players and LSU refused to back down.
In a Baton Rouge courthouse Thursday, players won an injunction to suit up Saturday—a court order that prevented both the NCAA and SEC from implementing its rules. During the nine-hour hearing—specifically when SEC commissioner Greg Sankey was on the stand—news broke that the conference had sued LSU in federal court in Alabama, adding another layer to the feud.
#baton #tigers #ncaa
Draped in a white **** on down and grey slacks, Kiffin was several hours away from making his debut as Tigers head coach. But first, he had some questions to answer about a massive and consequential decision.
On Friday night, LSU decided not to add Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris to its final roster—a shocking turn after the players, as well as LSU itself, fought a legal battle for the right to take the field as Tigers.
Wright and Harris were just two of hundreds of college athletes who have sued the NCAA to challenge the implementation of its "age-based" eligibility policy, which offered a fifth year of eligibility to college athletes—but didn't include players from the freshman class of 2022 who had already completed, like them. But their lawsuit drew national news because they had signed NFL contracts, though both were waived before making regular-season roster. A multipart legal battle ensued after the SEC issued a ban on players with this NFL experience, and the players and LSU refused to back down.
In a Baton Rouge courthouse Thursday, players won an injunction to suit up Saturday—a court order that prevented both the NCAA and SEC from implementing its rules. During the nine-hour hearing—specifically when SEC commissioner Greg Sankey was on the stand—news broke that the conference had sued LSU in federal court in Alabama, adding another layer to the feud.
#baton #tigers #ncaa
2 months ago
