Texas Judge Temporarily Halts SEC Rule on Player Eligibility
A Texas judge has placed a temporary hold on a Southeastern Conference (SEC) rule prohibiting players from returning to college after leaving for professional leagues. This decision comes two days after the SEC approved the controversial measure that affects over 40 players amidst ongoing legal battles over the NCAA’s new five-year eligibility rule.
Dallas County Judge Martin Hoffman issued a temporary restraining order, stating, “As long as they would have been eligible to continue playing college sports in the following semester if they had a fifth year of eligibility, they are eligible today.” This ruling applies primarily to former college players who had completed their fourth year of eligibility last spring, many of whom are now pursuing lawsuits for an additional fifth year.
Among the plaintiffs are former SMU wide receiver Jordon Hudson, currently with the Cowboys, and former Miami linebacker Wesley Bissainthe, who signed with the Chiefs. While neither played in the SEC, the court’s order opened the transfer portal for a week, allowing them the opportunity to sign with a new school.
The ruling does not address similar eligibility rules enacted by other major conferences, such as the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), which recently established its own guidelines on player ineligibility. The ACC’s resolution bars schools from including players on their football or basketball rosters if those players have declared for a professional draft, signed a contract with a professional league, or appeared on any professional team roster.
N.C. State football coach Dave Doeren remarked on the ACC’s policy, stating, “Just to me, that’s kind of a cutoff, when a guy goes pro… There shouldn’t be the ability to come back.”
Meanwhile, the NFL has reiterated that players who leave the league to return to college will not be permitted to rejoin this season, adding to the ongoing complexities surrounding player eligibility.
As the landscape of college sports eligibility continues to evolve, many are left to wonder how this will affect additional players and if more legal challenges will arise against conference-level rules, particularly in light of the Texas ruling, which some experts believe could encourage further disputes.
Two days after the Southeastern Conference passed a rule barring players from returning to the league from the pros, a Texas judge put that rule on hold Thursday in a case involving more than 40 players.
It was the latest piece of news in what has turned into a breakneck week of legal wrangling over the NCAA’s new five-year eligibility rule. The rule does not apply to college players who exhausted their fourth year of eligibility last spring; many are suing across the country for that fifth year.
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“As long as they would have been eligible to continue playing college sports in the following semester if they had a fifth year of eligibility, they are eligible today,” Dallas County Judge Martin Hoffman wrote in the temporary restraining order.
Two of the plaintiffs are former SMU receiver Jordon Hudson of the Cowboys and former Miami linebacker Wesley Bissainthe of the Chiefs. Neither played in the SEC, though the judge ordered the NCAA to open the transfer portal for a week, meaning either could play for a new school if one wanted to sign them.
The order said nothing of the other Power 4 Conferences, all of which have passed similar rules that went beyond the NFL to include basketball, as well. The Atlantic Coast Conference became the last of the four to pass a rule Thursday.
This lawsuit named the NCAA, the SEC and its commissioner, Greg Sankey, as defendants.
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At least two players who signed with NFL teams as undrafted free agents this offseason were hoping to play for No. 11 LSU.
The ACC’s plan lays out guidelines for ineligibility
Under the ACC resolution, a school is not permitted to include an individual on its football or men’s or women’s basketball roster when he or she:
— Has previously declared for an NFL, NBA, or WNBA draft and did not appropriately withdraw consistent with NCAA requirements to retain eligibility;
— Signed a contract with the NFL (or other professional football league), NBA/G-League, WNBA (or affiliate) or any team that is a member of any such league.
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— Been listed on any roster for an NFL (or other professional football league), NBA/G-League, or WNBA (or affiliate) team.
“Just to me, that’s kind of a cutoff, when a guy goes pro,” N.C. State football coach Dave Doeren said after Thursday’s practice and before the ACC adopted its policy. “And we say ‘Goodbye, good luck,’ and we move on. And there shouldn’t be the ability to come back. If it’s the Big Ten, SEC — it doesn’t matter to me: it’s an amateurism rule.”
On Wednesday, the NFL made it clear that players who leave the NFL to return to college won’t be allowed to come back to the league this season.
Conference-level rules differ from those implemented broadly by the NCAA
The question now is how many more players and their attorneys will decide to challenge rules being set at a conference level.
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Though the NCAA has notched court wins on appeals of a few of the eligibility cases, the Texas decision punctures, for now, some experts’ belief that league rules had a better chance of staying intact than the one passed by the NCAA.
“From an antitrust perspective, as long as conferences aren’t colluding, they can make their own rules about allowing, or not allowing, former professional players to compete, Rick Karcher, a faculty athletics representative at Eastern Michigan and former practicing attorney in sports law, said before Thursday night’s ruling came out. “And regardless of any injunction order that may be issued, it doesn’t require any school to allow any player to compete on the field and I highly doubt that any schools are going to violate conference rules.”
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