Following a Thursday gathering of its chancellors and presidents to address the controversy over LSU attempting to recruit players with previous NFL contracts, the SEC announced it is seeking a “proper settlement.”
This conference took place 24 hours after the postponement of a legal hearing regarding the league’s lawsuit against LSU and head coach Lane Kiffin. The delay was granted because LSU filled its last two available squad positions on Tuesday night, effectively blocking any potential addition of former Ole Miss defensive tackle Zxavian Harris and ex-Rebels tight end Dae’Quan Wright for the 2026 season.
Both athletes had previously agreed to deals with NFL franchises before being waived ahead of the regular season. A judge in Louisiana determined they were permitted to play a fifth year of collegiate football, aligning with the NCAA’s ruling that offers a five-year window of eligibility for all student-athletes from the graduating class of 2023 and onward.
In a short press release, the SEC stated: “On Thursday, the chancellors and presidents of the Southeastern Conference convened via video call to deliberate on ongoing issues concerning league standards and obligations. These talks are set to persist while the conference and its constituent schools strive for a suitable compromise.”
Initially, the agenda for the Thursday session included a potential vote to remove LSU from the conference. In response to LSU’s efforts to acquire Harris and Wright, the league had instituted a regulation prohibiting any athlete who had inked a professional contract with the NFL, NBA, or WNBA from competing for an SEC institution.
A separate judicial ruling in Louisiana a week prior declared that the duo was permitted to sign with the Tigers. Nevertheless, they were absent from the team’s official sheet last Friday, when LSU turned in a roster containing 103 filled scholarship slots out of the maximum 105.
It was widely assumed those two remaining vacancies were reserved for Harris and Wright, giving LSU the flexibility to add them later on. However, the university appeared to yield under the pressure of the SEC’s legal action on Tuesday by assigning those spots to two different players. Legal counsel representing Wright and Harris indicated that the athletes are currently considering their next moves.
Once LSU finalized its roster slots, the friction between the university and the conference seemed to ease. Wade Rousse, the president of LSU, clarified in a correspondence that there was no longer a viable route for the players to join the roster, which removed the threat of SEC expulsion from the Thursday meeting’s agenda.
