Two open spots, and neither one went to them
LSU turned in a 103-man roster for Saturday’s opener against Clemson. The cap is 105. Two spots sat empty, and Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris were not in either of them.
Both have been cleared to play since Thursday. Judge William Jorden, of the Louisiana district court, granted a preliminary injunction opening the door for them to return to college football after spending the summer in NFL camps. Wright signed with Philadelphia as an undrafted free agent, got claimed off waivers by Cleveland, then was cut last week. Harris took an undrafted deal with New Orleans and lasted until early August.
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Forty-two athletes, one injunction, and a conference that is not backing down
Jorden’s ruling covers 42 athletes across every sport. It temporarily stops the SEC and the NCAA from enforcing the rules that would bar those players from the new college year. All of it traces back to the NCAA’s move to a five-year eligibility model.
The SEC pushed back fast. On Thursday the conference filed in federal court in Alabama against head coach Lane Kiffin and several LSU officials, with one goal: keep former pros off college rosters.
A week earlier the SEC had already passed a rule handing commissioner Greg Sankey the power to punish any program that plays someone who has signed an NFL contract. Read the penalties and the intent is obvious. Half a season on the sideline for the head coach. A fine equal to half the school’s football budget. The vote went 15-0, with LSU abstaining.
Clemson puts the warning in writing, one day out
Clemson’s lawyers sent a letter to their LSU counterparts on Friday. According to Yahoo Sports, it flagged that playing Harris or Wright could break the contractual terms binding the two schools for Saturday’s game.
Here is the part that stings. Harris and Wright both played for Kiffin at Ole Miss last season. He brought them to Baton Rouge with him. Now he starts his first year on the Tigers sideline without either, with a federal suit over his head and an opponent making sure the threat is on paper.
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