Judge grants injunction to pro players seeking LSU return - ESPN

BATON ROUGE, La. — Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris are currently cleared to return to college football after brief stints in the NFL, according to a judge's orders issued Thursday evening, setting up a dramatic showdown between the SEC and LSU leading into its season-opening game this weekend.

Wright and Harris, both former Ole Miss players, said in a lengthy court hearing Thursday they intend to join their former coach Lane Kiffin during his debut season at LSU, which opens play Saturday night against Clemson. They are among a group of 42 athletes from various sports — including former Notre Dame pass rusher Junior Tuihalamaka, who also plans to play for LSU — who are suing the NCAA to play a fifth and final season of college sports.

The two former Rebels are among a handful of football players who have successfully petitioned state courts in Texas and Louisiana for permission to play in college after signing pro contracts and spending most of August in NFL training camps. Administrators at the NCAA, SEC and most of their schools are adamantly opposed to the players' return, but Judge William Jorden approved a preliminary injunction Thursday that prohibits the NCAA and SEC from punishing any school that puts them on the field. The ruling does not apply to all athletes, only those named in the lawsuit.

The SEC says it reaffirmed a rule last week that was designed to allow its commissioner, Greg Sankey, to punish any school that added a former NFL, NBA or WNBA player to its roster by suspending the team's coach for half of his program's season and levying fines that could reach tens of millions of dollars. The players' attorneys argued the league added more specifics to its professional ban last week in an effort to