09/09/26 07:19:00
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09/09 19:18 CDT SEC not expected to vote on LSU's membership this week, AP
source says
SEC not expected to vote on LSU's membership this week, AP source says
By BRETT MARTEL
AP Sports Writer
NEW ORLEANS (AP) --- The Southeastern Conference is no longer expected to vote
on whether to expel LSU from the league on Thursday, a person familiar with the
matter said Wednesday evening.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because
Thursday's meeting --- to be held by video conference --- is not open to the
public and because the SEC has not released a statement on the matter since a
federal court filing on Tuesday highlighted the league's intent to vote on
LSU's membership.
The dispute between the conference and LSU stems largely from first-year Tigers
coach Lane Kiffin's now-abandoned bid to field two players who had signed NFL
contracts as undrafted rookies this past offseason.
A hearing scheduled Wednesday in a federal lawsuit the SEC filed against LSU
was postponed by a judge in Birmingham, Alabama.
Meanwhile, LSU President Wade Rousse sent a one-page letter, obtained by the
AP, to SEC commissioner Greg Sankey stating that the league's claims in its
lawsuit against LSU are now moot because Kiffin had complied with a conference
ban on rostering players who had previously signed contracts with NFL teams.
Rousse noted that he called Sankey last Friday afternoon and notified him
personally that LSU would not be placing tight end Dae'Quan Wright or defensive
tackle Zxavian Harris on the Tigers' roster.
Wright had spent part of the past offseason with the Philadelphia Eagles and
Cleveland Browns. Harris has spent part of the offseason with the New Orleans
Saints. Both also had played for Mississippi when Kiffin was the Rebels' coach.
LSU on Tuesday filled remaining vacancies on its roster with eligible players.
"The roster is now locked for the season," Rousse's letter stated. "LSU
complied with SEC rules. This issue is moot."
Rousse also noted that LSU "will not challenge, disrupt or seek to cancel or
postpone" Thursday's scheduled meeting --- a concern Sankey had raised Tuesday
in the SEC's amended federal complaint against LSU.
LSU is a founding member of the SEC, which was formed in 1933. LSU has a host
of powerhouse athletics programs and has won three of the SEC's 25 AP national
championships in football alone.
Still, the language in the federal lawsuit left little ambiguity about the
extent to which the leaders of most SEC universities had become frustrated with
LSU --- not only because of efforts to recruit former pros to both its football
and men's basketball teams.
They also were unhappy about the related court drama that ensued --- including
a marathon court hearing last week in which Sankey took the stand to insist the
league has the right to enforce its own rules.
Sankey said there was consensus among conference leaders that "LSU's continued
membership in the conference would be inconsistent with the publicly stated
values and principles of the conference and its remaining member institutions,"
even if LSU doesn't put the former NFL players on its roster.
The SEC has a long-established rule forbidding teams from bringing players with
major professional experience onto their rosters. In recent weeks, the
conference announced updated enforcement provisions to that rule, stating that
the commissioner had the power to suspend coaches, fine universities up to half
of a sport's budget and restrict a member university's voting privileges on
conference matters.
But last Thursday, a judge in Baton Rouge barred the league from enforcing any
rules regarding former pros --- a decision celebrated heartily by Louisiana
Gov. Jeff Landry and the state attorney general, Liz Murrill, who'd filed a
brief in the case on behalf of the athletes.
Murrill called the SEC's lawsuit "legal garbage" shortly after it was filed
last week.; The SEC has since listed Murrill as a defendant.
Sankey has stated that SEC presidents are concerned that Rousse and athletic
director Verge Ausberry have no "meaningful control" over Kiffin or the
football program.
Sankey also stated that "serious harm" had been caused "by the statements and
conduct of LSU," and suggested that harm would not be undone simply by LSU
renouncing "its intention to roster and play professional players on its
football team."
Kiffin's hiring was one of two notable coaching changes at LSU involving the
highest revenue-generating college sports: LSU also has brought back Will Wade
to coach men's basketball. Wade was fired by previous athletic director Scott
Woodward in the wake of an NCAA investigation into improper inducement payments
to recruits when such payments were forbidden.
Wade served a suspension from coaching in college before returning in the
2023-24 season with McNeese State. He spent two seasons with the Cowboys and
one with North Carolina State before he was brought back to LSU --- a move
favored by Landry, as well as Rousse, a Landry ally who was McNeese's president
when Wade was there.
Wade has sought to sign RJ Luis Jr., a former Big East player of the year with
St. John's who spent parts of the 2025 NBA offseason and preseason with the
Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics, but never played in a regular-season NBA game.
Luis also has been fighting the NCAA in court in Baton Rouge, where a judge on
Aug. 24 issued a preliminary injunction that temporarily blocks the NCAA from
punishing LSU if the Tigers play Luis --- something that also would violate the
SEC rules at the center of the conference's federal lawsuit against LSU.
LSU's football team is now ranked eighth in the Top 25 AP Poll following
Saturday's 51-10, season-opening victory over Clemson. The Tigers host
Louisiana Tech on Saturday, followed by a much anticipated visit to No. 9 Ole
Miss, where Kiffin will face the team he coached a year ago.
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