SEC presidents, chancellors and athletics directors have drawn a hard line: no more former NFL, NBA or WNBA players on conference rosters.
In a unanimous vote Tuesday, the league approved a new policy barring member schools from carrying athletes who previously declared for the NFL, NBA or WNBA Draft and failed to properly withdraw, signed with a pro football team, NBA/G-League club or WNBA team or affiliate, or were listed on one of those rosters. The SEC said the commissioner is authorized to enforce the rule with penalties against member institutions.
According to Yahoo Sports, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has “full and unlimited authority,” including the power to “suspend a school from competition.”
The move puts the SEC alongside the Big Ten in blocking former NFL players from college rosters.
The timing comes after the idea of a return from the pros to college football became a real conversation point in recent days. ESPN reported Sunday that the Cleveland Browns waived Dae’Quan Wright, who had an agreement to play for LSU. That would have made him the first player to go from the NFL back to college.
Wright had been among a group of players who received another year of eligibility after a Louisiana court issued a temporary restraining order while they sought a fifth season. The NCAA also changed its eligibility rules earlier this summer, allowing athletes five years to play five seasons. But players like Wright, who declared for the draft under the old rules only months before that change, could not benefit from it.
Wright played two years at Virginia Tech and two more at Ole Miss, which left him out of eligibility under the old system.
He was not the only one looking at a return to college football. Defensive lineman Zxavian Harris was also cut by the New Orleans Saints earlier in August and was planning to transfer to LSU to reunite with former coach Lane Kiffin.
College basketball has already dealt with similar fights. James Nnaji, a former NBA draft pick, was granted eligibility to play for Baylor. But the NCAA later blocked Charles Bediako from returning after he had signed a two-way NBA contract and spent multiple seasons in the G-League.
Bediako sued and won a temporary restraining order that let him play five games for Alabama before a denied preliminary injunction ended that return.
On Monday, another case moved forward when a Louisiana judge granted RJ Luis Jr. a preliminary injunction against the NCAA so he could return to college basketball. Luis never appeared in an NBA game, but he signed a two-way deal with the Utah Jazz and was later traded to the Boston Celtics.
The former St. John’s star, who was named the 2025 Big East player of the year, was set to play for LSU this season.
With conferences now taking on enforcement instead of the NCAA, the policy’s next test may come in court.
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