An NFL player, LSU and a legal loophole: College football's bizarre eligibility fight is getting wild

College sports had a first on Thursday.

Visit mwafrika.life for more information.

An NFL player entered the NCAA transfer portal.

That’s right. Former Ole Miss tight end Dae’Quan Wright, who signed a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Eagles and is in training camp with the Cleveland Browns, popped into the portal on Thursday afternoon, followed soon by other players, some of them like Wright who have signed a professional contract.

You’re probably wondering how in the hell this is happening.

The players are part of a large group who sued the NCAA in a Louisiana court in an attempt to gain a fifth year of eligibility in the wake of the association’s new five-year, age-based eligibility policy. Dozens of players across the country have filed similar suits on the heels of the NCAA’s decision not to make an exception for seniors who completed their career this past spring after playing in just four seasons. They are ineligible under the old rule, but they are eligible under the new rule — if the association had made an exception.

Those athletes believe that they should receive a fifth season, too, like all the other current and future college players. Many judges believe so as well.

The Louisiana judge, Will Jorden, not only granted the players a fifth season, but also allowed them to enter a newly created, week-long transfer portal to find a new home. Plus, the judge granted eligibility to those athletes in the group like Wright who signed professional contracts, barring the association from enforcing its longtime ban on pro players returning to college.

The Louisiana case is one of many.

In fact, because of research from Sam Ehrlich, a Boise State professor who created a helpful spreadsheet tracking these cases, we know that the Louisiana case is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

In all, more than 150 athletes have filed 18 eligibility lawsuits in 15 different states. In 11 of those cases, judges have ruled in favor of the players, either with a temporary restraining order or an injunction prohibiting the NCAA from enforcing its rules. Several others await a judge’s decision while several more are being appealed.

NCAA wins have been few and far between.

Those 18 aforementioned cases were filed in state court. There is one whopper of a case filed in federal court, where a Colorado judge granted all players who were part of the 2022 high school class a fifth year of eligibility in a class-action ruling that bolsters the arguments of the state cases.

The NCAA is appealing the federal court ruling — an appeal that many across the college sports landscape await with bated breath.

Ole Miss TE Dae'quan Wright celebrates against the Miami Hurricanes during the CFP semifinal on Jan. 8. (Photo by CFP/Getty Images)CFP via Getty Images

A federal appeals win keeps alive hope in the association’s appeals of the state lawsuits. Presumably, the NCAA would continue fighting each individually even as players take advantage of the restraining orders and injunctions by participating in football preseason practice.

However, a loss of the appeal in the federal case may force the association to at least seriously explore the waiving of the white flag: Granting those players in the 2022 class a sweeping eligibility waiver.

But there is more to this entire situation — much, much more.

The Louisiana case did not simply, randomly appear out of the thick, muggy air of Baton Rouge.

The primary named plaintiff in the lawsuit is Jack Pyburn, a former LSU starting edge rusher who signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Buccaneers and had two sacks in a preseason game just a few days ago. If you aren’t connecting the dots, a Louisiana state judge, in a case filed in Baton Rouge, paved the path for Pyburn to return to play for the Tigers.

There are three Ole Miss players in the group, too, including Wright, all of whom were previously coached by former Rebels coach Lane Kiffin, who is now coaching LSU.

Those with knowledge of the situation in Baton Rouge and beyond have made it quite clear: The lawsuit was an orchestrated effort originating from LSU’s campus. But LSU isn’t alone in supporting athletes fighting for more eligibility and holding roster spots for them.

Schools across the country — the same schools that create these eligibility rules that the NCAA is tasked with enforcing — are fighting against the very rules that they created as a way to gain a competitive advantage.

Economists will tell you that this is just how a competitive market works: Schools, now paying millions directly to their athletes, are under more financial pressure than ever to win in a competitive market where court rulings have crippled any logical rules enforcement.

Much of this is driven by coaches who don’t trust that coaches at other schools aren’t planning on improving their roster by skirting the rules. As one person put it, “We’ll do it before they do.”

It’s another bizarre chapter in major college sports’ evolution from amateurism to professionalism, the latest indicator that, perhaps, congressional legislation and/or a collective bargaining agreement is necessary to have regulation.

The situation at LSU may soon come to a volcanic head with its own conference.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey reminded member schools in a memo last week of the league’s longstanding bylaw, which prevents players transferring from one conference school to another outside of the NCAA transfer portal window for that particular sport (in football, that was in January).

If one of the Ole Miss players transferred to LSU by using the temporary restraining order, will the SEC enforce its intra-conference bylaw? The move may serve as a test of a conference-only governance and enforcement model that SEC administrators have long discussed and are seriously exploring (without congressional legislation, they want to create their own rules and enforce them in a governance breakaway from the NCAA as a way to avoid legal challenges).

However, attorneys believe the SEC enforcing its bylaws would end back in the same Louisiana court in front of the same Louisiana judge with the same (Louisiana) result. After all, says one attorney, language in the temporary restraining order covers any SEC rule, too, as those league bylaws are just a derivation of the NCAA’s policies.

In a recent meeting, SEC administrators and football coaches openly discussed the future of the league’s intra-conference transfer policy, reaffirming support for the enforcement of the rule.

Making matters even more interesting is that Sankey filed an affidavit in a separate case in Louisiana, where former St. John’s basketball player RJ Luis is attempting to gain eligibility to play at LSU despite signing a pro contract. As he did in February in a similar case involving former pro player and ex-Alabama center Charles Bediako, Sankey argues against the court granting eligibility to a professional athlete attempting to play at one of his own schools.

“It is an interesting dynamic,” said one person involved in the case. “Greg Sankey is a rule follower with a background in compliance.”

More such basketball lawsuits are expected in the coming weeks as several universities attempt to gain eligibility for players who either are seeking a fifth year or are seeking to play despite signing professional contracts. In fact, recently as many as two-dozen school staff members held a call about the situation, clearly gearing up to perhaps file a group lawsuit.

But, for now, football is on everyone’s mind.

Schools are in preseason camp two weeks ahead of the season opener for most teams. Meanwhile, the NFL must cut their final rosters to 53 players by Aug. 30 — six days before the first full college football Saturday.

“We’re 16 days out before playing,” said one power conference general manager. “There’s a chunk of players from the 2022 class going to get cut in the NFL. I need to figure this s*** out. It’s such a wild time.”

Read full story at source