Greg Sankey, in filing, speaks out against pros returning to NCAA - ESPN

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said allowing athletes who have signed professional contracts back into college sports «fuels disruption» and should not be allowed, according to an affidavit filed in a Louisiana courthouse last week.

Sankey asked Judge Ronald Johnson in East Baton Rouge Parish court to uphold NCAA rules that prevent athletes from returning, saying the decision is «essential to the integrity of college sports.» He wrote that allowing pros back into NCAA competition would undermine the «fundamental principles» of college sports and unfairly harm high school students looking to join a college team as well as other teams that have followed the existing rules.

«These rules are grounded in the principle that athletics are an integral part of the academic experience,» Sankey wrote. «The rules align the time permitted for college athletics with the pursuit of an undergraduate education and further the important purpose of preserving opportunities for future student-athletes to participate in college sports.»

The affidavit was in response to a lawsuit filed by former St. John's men's basketball star RJ Luis, the 2024-25 Big East Player of the Year. He has since committed to LSU in hopes of playing one more season of college basketball.

The affidavit puts Sankey on the opposing end of a legal argument supported by a school in his conference.

Luis' case is being adjudicated in the same courthouse as a similar lawsuit filed Wednesday that includes several football players who signed pro contracts this summer and are now aiming to return to college. The more recent case was filed by 32 total athletes who played a variety of sports, including three players who are currently on NFL rosters but wish to return to college.