SEC Accuses LSU of Violating Its Rules as Will Wade's Basketball Roster Adds Fuel to the Fire

LSU Tigers File for Dismissal as SEC Continues Testing Conference's Pro-Status Rules Despite School and Will Wade's Claims

Gov. Jeff Landry on SEC threat to deport LSU: 'ridiculous'

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry discusses the escalating dispute between the Southeastern Conference and Louisiana State University over whether former NFL players should be allowed to return to college football, the SEC's threat to deport LSU, the ongoing legal battle over player eligibility, and what the dispute could mean for the future of college Aathmer reports.

The legal battle between the LSU Tigers' athletic department and the Southeastern Conference continues in Alabama's Northern District Court with an explosive filing Tuesday evening.

If the SEC has its way, the case will continue until LSU admits it tried to violate the conference's professionalism rules by recruiting — and possibly signing — athletes with professional NFL or NBA experience, or until LSU accepts some form of punishment without using the courtroom as a shield.

The ongoing saga between one of the SEC's biggest schools and the conference it's in has sent both sides into a war over the limits of what LSU is allowed to do under league rules.

Inside the Louisiana courtroom: SEC-LSU legal circus unfolds in stunning spectacle like a John Grisham novel

Before the start of the college football season, several athletes first sued the NCAA for another year of eligibility under new guidelines that had been passed in several years. An athlete could play varsity sports.

When it passed in June, the NCAA made it clear that while athletes now have five years to play in five seasons, they left out the 2022 class.

This has led to numerous lawsuits across the country, with some judges awarding athletes an extra season due to the NCAA's lack of participation in the 2022 class, while the NCAA has gone to great lengths to fight every case brought before a local judge for review.

But after a Louisiana district court judge ruled that Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris were eligible to play this season because of their pro football experience, the SEC and other conferences passed a rule barring athletes with pro experience from returning to college sports.

If this legal battle accelerates, LSU may have to file a complaint with the SEC while Dabo Swinney stays in line.

That led to attorneys for the SEC plaintiffs adding to the ongoing litigation in Baton Rouge court, which ultimately resulted in commissioner Greg Sankey being on the witness stand for more than five hours that Thursday before LSU took the field against Clemson.

Less than 20 minutes into his testimony, news broke from inside the courtroom that the SEC had filed suit against LSU, Lynn Kiffin, president Wade Rousse and others in the Tigers' administration for violating their First Amendment rights to run the conference.

LSU stops adding players with NFL ties as SEC complains to program, Lynn Kiffin

In case you were wondering why the SEC thought it best to file this type of complaint against a member institution, the conference is working under the assumption that LSU will continue to use the court system to maneuver around enforcement.

"This threat is not hypothetical. The defendants have already indicated that they will use the Louisiana courts to prevent the conference from taking place," the SEC said in a filing Tuesday. Hand in hand with the Pyborn plaintiffs, they helped obtain state court orders barring the conference from enforcing professional rules.

Like a story out of a John Grisham novel, the aftermath of that day in Baton Rouge has been nothing short of dramatic.

LSU filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, while the SEC responds with charges

After Lynn Kiffin and the Tigers decided not to include Daequan Wright and Zaxavian Harris on their roster, some thought the lawsuit between the two sides would be settled.

"LSU's 11th-hour decision not to add two former professional athletes to its football roster does not address the SEC's allegations," the conference said in a filing Tuesday. It is also not important that the defendants did not block or interfere with the meeting on September 19.

The NCAA has no plans to give up as eligibility disputes for the 2022 class turn into an all-out legal battle

But, the war between LSU and the SEC was essentially just beginning, following subtle threats from the conference to kick the Tigers out of the league.

In reality, that wasn't happening, but that hasn't stopped the SEC from threatening to punish the Tigers for continuing to recruit athletes with professional experience.

Late Tuesday night, in response to the SEC's response, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Morrill called the SEC's filing "junk."

AG Murrill said: "The SEC attorneys' new response proves that the commissioner never acted in good faith." LSU has not broken any laws, and the case is controversial.

While some were concerned with what Lynn Kiffin was doing with the football program, the real fight had already begun with LSU basketball coach Will Wade.

Kiffin's roster moves were never the real threat in this battle, so much as the Tigers assembled a roster for the upcoming basketball season.

It was never about football. The entire saga revolved around college basketball

As recently as a week ago, LSU technically only had four players on the current roster eligible, which came after former St. John's star RJ Lewis Jr. was ordered to play college basketball this season, though he has not been added to the Tigers' roster.

In his strategy to assemble a team, Will Wade has focused much of his time on players with professional experience, which was part of the SEC.

"LSU has expressly recruited former NBA player RJ Luis Jr., allowed him to practice with the LSU men's basketball team, and has refused to publicly and definitively announce that he will not be on LSU's basketball roster, which is not due for several weeks," the SEC filing states.

To some minds, that strategy is from the same playbook that Lane Kiffin played with in the days leading up to LSU's season opener against Clemson.

LSU leaves former pro players off the roster the night before the SEC lands Lynn Kiffin and the Tigers.

On Tuesday, Will Wade indicated that LSU will follow the mandate set by the SEC.

"We're following all the SEC protocols with him," Wade said Tuesday during SEC Media Days. "I think it's pretty clear what the SEC protocols are on all of this. He didn't travel with us to McNeese and he wasn't listed."

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While that may please some, the official roster doesn't have to come out until the day before the first regular season game, and there are still a handful of LSU players waiting to hear back on who has some sort of pro experience.

And, while there may be no more moves on the football side, Will Wade and LSU executives are still testing the limits of the conference's standards, at least according to the SEC.

"Defendants' threatened interference with the SEC's First Amendment freedoms continues," the SEC noted.

Now, we await a judge in Alabama to decide whether this case will move forward.