BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A courtroom a couple miles from LSU’s Tiger Stadium was the focus of college football Thursday, when several dozen athletes awaited a ruling that could clear the way for them to compete in NCAA games this fall — even if they already turned pro.
Attorneys for the athletes, the NCAA and Southeastern Conference were slated to appear before East Baton Rouge Parish Judge William Jorden, who scheduled a hearing concerning the status of his earlier temporary injunction preventing the NCAA from ruling recent former pros or fifth-year college athletes ineligible.
Jorden also wanted the NCAA to explain why it should not be held in contempt after the SEC and other power conferences adopted rules providing for draconian punishments of member schools who place former NFL or NBA athletes on their football or basketball rosters.
The players in question include former Cleveland Browns tight end Dae’Quan Wright, former New Orleans Saints defensive lineman Zxavian Harris and former Denver Broncos defensive back Blake Cotton, who have been recruited by new LSU coach Lane Kiffin.
Wright, who played for Kiffin last season at Mississippi, started practicing with No. 11 LSU this week — too late to be eligible for Saturday’s home opener against Clemson under the NCAA’s required seven days of practice, or “acclimatization,” before appearing in a game.
Harris, who also played at Ole Miss last season, has committed to LSU, while Cotton, who played at Utah last fall, has been recruited by Kiffin.
All three are among many athletes who’ve argued in dozens of lawsuits around the country that they are unfairly being denied an opportunity to spend a fifth year in college under newly adopted NCAA rules allowing for five full years of competition.
The athletes in the case who signed pro contracts have argued they did so only because current rules that would have allowed them another college season weren’t adopted until after their decisions to leave school for the chance to make an NFL roster.
