Sources: SEC to suspend head coaches who add pro players - ESPN

SEC schools that bring back NFL, NBA or WNBA players to their programs will face steep discipline under a new policy unanimously approved by the conference's 16 members, sources confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday.

The penalties include a half-season suspension for a coach, a fine that matches 50% of the sport's annual budget and revocation of league voting rights, sources confirmed.

The SEC's member schools also gave commissioner Greg Sankey the authority to impose additional sanctions as needed, according to sources.

Sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel that the SEC's chancellors and presidents voted 15-0 to confirm the penalties, with LSU abstaining from voting. The vote to approve the new policy banning pro athletes from returning to the SEC was approved by a 16-0 vote.

ACC athletic directors met Wednesday, and there's momentum for the ACC to join the SEC and Big Ten in banning players from returning from the NFL, sources told ESPN. The ACC would still need to pass a few more steps, including board approval.

But sources indicated that there's momentum that the ACC will join the SEC and Big Ten. The goal is for the ACC board to meet and vote in the next 24 hours, according to sources.

The SEC joined the Big Ten on Tuesday in its unanimous opposition to athletes leaving the NFL and returning to college teams, swiftly passing a new conference rule that gives Sankey full authority to enforce it «with penalties.»

During an in-person meeting with league presidents, chancellors and athletic directors, the SEC took it even further than the Big Ten, prohibiting anyone who has previously declared for professional basketball from rejoining college athletics without appropriately withdrawing.

With a step-by-step explanation, the SEC