Lane Kiffin’s LSU program has suddenly turned Clemson’s Week 1 trip into something bigger than a football game.
A last-minute injunction from Judge William Jorden has opened the door for more than 40 athletes who were previously on NFL rosters to return to the SEC for a fifth year. That group includes former Ole Miss players Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, both of whom are committed to LSU and could be in play for Saturday’s matchup with Clemson.
The ruling says LSU, the NCAA and the SEC were involved in “actions that negatively impact” the athletes. The SEC strongly disagrees, but LSU has not shut the door on letting Wright and Harris suit up later in the season. LSU has until midnight on Friday to decide what happens next.
Wright spent NFL training camp with the Cleveland Browns, while Harris was with the New Orleans Saints. Even so, there are reasons LSU might hold both players out against Clemson. They have not spent any time on campus, they do not know the system or the roster well, and Clemson could also choose to boycott.
That possibility comes as the SEC has made its stance clear: it does not want players who had already turned pro trying to come back and reclaim amateur eligibility. The conference has even reportedly threatened to kick LSU out if the Tigers move forward with this.
The situation is drawing comparisons to Brendan Sorsby, after Texas Tech previously received a favorable ruling in a separate case involving a veteran quarterback who bet on games involving teams he had been part of, only for the Big 12 and the rest of college football to reject it. Sorsby lost his final season of eligibility because of that issue.
Because Harris and Wright went undrafted, their case may carry extra weight under the 5-in-5 ruling being applied to the class of 2022. Still, Clemson is the team now caught in the middle of it all. Dabo Swinney has already made clear how he feels about the way Lane Kiffin is running LSU, and now his team has to prepare for a game where the opponent’s roster status could still change.
The timing could hardly be worse for Clemson. The Tigers head into the No. 11 LSU matchup in Week 1 already facing a major test, and this ruling has only added another layer of chaos to a game that was supposed to be decided on the field.
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