SEC releases new filing in ongoing lawsuit against LSU, says university ‘continues to flout’ conference rules
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
The SEC‘s legal battle against LSU isn’t finished.
The conference released an additional filing on Tuesday as part of its ongoing federal lawsuit against the university. Long story short, the fact that Lane Kiffin backed down from using a pair of players who had spent time on NFL rosters as undrafted free agents hasn’t satisfied the SEC. Its latest example of the university “flout(ing) the rules and principles” of the conference now centers on the men’s basketball program, specifically its signing of R.J. Luis Jr. and several international players.
Luis, a class of 2022 graduate, played two seasons each at UMass and St. John’s before signing a two-way NBA contract and later an Exhibit 10 contract with a G League team. He is not on Will Wade’s roster as of yet because the SEC’s rules ban him from competing, even though he would be otherwise eligible thanks to an injunction that, in effect, allows Class of 2022 student-athletes to benefit from the NCAA’s five-for-five eligibility ruling.
The SEC also made mention of “international professional basketball players” brought in by Wade. Three of them — Brice Dessert, Saliou Niang, and Gilad Levy — are still waiting to learn if they’ll be eligible for the upcoming season. The Tigers’ season opener is on Nov. 3 against New Orleans.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
