LSU submitted a 103-man roster Friday without Dae'Quan Wright, Zxavian Harris, or Blake Cotton, WBRZ reported at 11:08 p.m., citing ESPN's Pete Thamel. College teams may keep 105. Two spots sat empty. Junior Tuihalamaka, a Notre Dame transfer who declared for the NFL draft but went undrafted and did not sign, is on the list. [1] An Associated Press source said the same Friday night of Wright and Harris: the school left the former professionals off the opening-day roster. [2]
Thursday this paper reported that a Baton Rouge court was hearing the SEC fight over LSU with no ruling in the morning file, and that the money fight was a conference threatening half a sport's budget while a state court had already barred the penalty. Thursday night Judge William Jorden granted a preliminary injunction. It prohibits the NCAA and SEC from punishing schools that roster the named plaintiffs, including Wright and Harris. [3] Sportico, Friday morning, added the other half of the order: Jorden also barred LSU from taking adverse action against those players. [4] Friday's list is the member answering the conference, not the order.
Wright, a tight end who had 39 catches for 635 yards at Ole Miss last season and spent time with the Eagles and Browns, told reporters after the hearing he planned to be ready against Clemson and had practiced two days. Harris, a 6-foot-8, 330-pound defensive tackle with 58 tackles and three sacks last season, said he would need a couple of weeks and would be ready for Ole Miss on September 19. [3] [2] LSU players told the judge the team would not have to cut anyone to stay under the 105-player limit if it added them. [3] Friday it did not add them. Jorden, listening to closing arguments, said the conference's last-week penalty memos sounded "an awful lot like wide-open collusion." [3] The SEC said it would appeal. "The SEC's Presidents and Chancellors unanimously adopted a clear and reasonable standard: member universities should not place former professional athletes on their rosters," the conference said Thursday night. [3] LSU President Wade Rousse, in a Friday morning statement, said the school would "carefully review the court's order and continue to work constructively with the SEC and NCAA." "College football does not deserve this kind of ambiguity in eligibility standards," he said, pushing Congress to pass the Protect College Sports Act. [3] [2]
Friday afternoon, WAFB reported that civil summonses had been served on Kiffin, Rousse, Athletic Director Verge Ausberry, and the LSU Board of Supervisors in the SEC's federal lawsuit in Birmingham. A deputy clerk signed the papers. The defendants have 21 days to answer. The conference alleges a "deliberate and coordinated campaign to recruit professional athletes" and wants a federal injunction, arguing that forcing it to associate with professional athletes violates its First Amendment rights. [5] U.S. District Judge Annemarie Carney Axon had not ruled Friday. [4] [2] Sportico laid out the possible clash: a state order that makes the men eligible and bars LSU from acting against them, and a federal order that could block the school from using them. [4]
Clemson general counsel Chip Hood emailed LSU that playing former professionals Saturday may breach the game contract. Yahoo Sports, cited by WAFB, said Clemson still plans to travel, is not seeking damages, and is not threatening a suit. The obligations, the memo said, are "not relieved by the ongoing disputes." [6] The College Football Playoff, AP noted, came out in support of the rules barring former professionals. [2] Fold that here. Do not split it.
ESPN will file eligibility theater. Local television will file chaos before Clemson. Fan talk will file cheating or a closed shop. What both underplay is the split this paper named Thursday: the men may be eligible and the member still may not use them. Leaving Wright and Harris off a 105-man list, with two spots open and Tuihalamaka on because he never signed NFL paper, is LSU complying with Greg Sankey while Jorden's order sits on the state side and Alabama sits unruled. Saturday's kickoff is not Friday's news. Friday is the roster and the summonses.
-- AMARA OKONKWO, Lagos