Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill asked a federal court to dismiss the SEC’s lawsuit against LSU over player eligibility.
Murrill, a Republican, said in her Tuesday court filing on LSU’s behalf that “enough is enough.”
“There is no good reason to waste this Court’s time and resources—the Court should summarily dismiss the SEC’s complaint without prejudice to the SEC’s ability to file a real case,” she said.
Murrill noted it was “unclear why the SEC has not dismissed this case.”
“The SEC has abandoned its request for preliminary relief because it concededly faces no harm ‘at this time.’ It has abandoned its core allegations that LSU would ‘include two former professional athletes on its football roster’ and ‘block or interfere with the September 10th meeting,’” she wrote.
The conference called a meeting with its members to decide whether to expel LSU, but it took no disciplinary action against the school.
The SEC originally filed its lawsuit against LSU in September after its football team contemplated adding two former college football players, Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris. These players previously played at Ole Miss under current LSU coach Lane Kiffin, but signed with NFL teams and were waived during training camp.
Wright, Harris, and other athletes filed a lawsuit challenging the NCAA’s new eligibility rule, which allows student-athletes the ability to compete in five seasons over a five-year eligibility period.
These athletes, who graduated high school in 2022, argued that they should be eligible to compete for an additional year because they still fit within the five-year eligibility window.
A Louisiana judge issued a preliminary injunction last month against the NCAA and the SEC, allowing Wright and Harris to return to college football despite the SEC’s rule that prevents players who have signed a professional contract or been on a professional roster from playing in the conference.
The SEC filed an updated court filing last week saying the dispute is not just about Wright and Harris being left off LSU’s football team.
“This case addresses a broader dispute: Defendants’ complete lack of institutional control over LSU’s athletic programs, their ongoing defiance of the Conference’s Professionalism Rules,” the SEC said.
“LSU’s eleventh-hour decision not to include two former professional athletes on its football roster does not moot the SEC’s claims,” the SEC noted.
LSU’s interference with the conference’s First Amendment “freedoms is ongoing,” the SEC claimed.
The conference said LSU’s claim it would follow SEC rules, keep institutional control, and not impede on its First Amendment rights rang “hollow.”
The court filing cited the school’s basketball team attempting to roster former NBA player RJ Luis Jr., who also received an injunction to be able to return to college basketball, as well as recruiting international professional basketball players.
“Defendants are trying to have it both ways. They ask the Court to find that no live dispute exists, while keeping the door wide open for LSU to continue defying the Professionalism Rules and violating principles of institutional control without risking the termination of its Conference membership,” the SEC noted.
LSU’s basketball team announced it would not roster former NBA player RJ Luis Jr., who also received an injunction to be able to return to college basketball. However, the team will roster former NBA draft pick Saliou Niang, but unlike Luis, he never signed an NBA contract or played in the NBA.
Regarding the SEC’s First Amendment claim, Murrill said the conference “does not understand the constitutional point: Each SEC school, including LSU, has an unquestionable right to speak—the only issue is the source of that right.”
Murrill filed her filing in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, where the SEC initiated its lawsuit.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at [email protected].
Background Photo “Tiger Stadium” by JustDog. CC BY-SA 2.0.
