By KACE KIESCHNICK, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
The Southeastern Conference has stepped up its game as it seeks the authority to expel LSU from the conference.
The SEC filed an amendment on Tuesday to its lawsuit against LSU announced last week that states conference CEOs will meet on Thursday to determine whether LSU will be terminated as a member institution. LSU was a charter member of the SEC in 1933.
The conference also filed for a temporary restraining order against LSU to restrict the school from doing anything to prevent Thursday’s meeting from taking place.
The amended lawsuit now names Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and LSU Board of Supervisors chairman Lee Mallett as defendants.
The lawsuit that also names LSU, president Wade Rousse, athletic director Verge Ausberry and football coach Lane Kiffin was filed last Thursday in a federal court in Birmingham, Alabama. It centers around the Tigers’ recruitment of returning fifth-year players who signed NFL training camp contracts and joined rosters. Those players were awarded a preliminary injunction in Baton Rouge on Thursday for a fifth season of eligibility that also restricted the SEC from enforcing any punitive damages on the players or school for rostering them.
The lawsuit claims that LSU’s pursuit of former Ole Miss players Dae’Quan Wright, a tight end who was on the Cleveland Browns’ roster over the summer before being cut, and Zxavian Harris, defensive tackle was on the Saints’ roster before being cut, as well as others who had brief training camp stints is contrary to the conference’s beliefs and missions. The complaint asserts that the preliminary injunction and coordinated effort to allow these players to return despite conference rules prohibiting former pros from being signed by member institutions violates the SEC’s First Amendment right to govern itself.
But LSU just over the weekend obeyed the SEC’s wishes not to put Wright or Harris on their roster.
Murrill is scheduled to join Tiger Rag Radio at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Murrill filed an amicus brief in the Baton Rouge eligibility case last week that called the NCAA’s eligibility rules “a bait-and-switch” and supported the athlete’s effort to return. She also called the SEC’s lawsuit against LSU “garbage” in an interview last Thursday.
“Their power and their rules have been challenged, and they don’t like it. It’s that simple,” Murrill told Tiger Rag last Thursday.
Despite the preliminary injunction granted to the athletes, LSU did not roster Wright and Harris for its opener against Clemson on Saturday. Kiffin said the choice was in the best interest of the team and program as the SEC will likely seek a stay of the injunction. And the school could open itself to later punishments if players are rostered now. Two roster spots were left open to allow for their addition later in the season.
Ausberry said on Saturday that LSU planned to abide by the SEC’s wishes.
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