EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsThe SEC has filed a memorandum in opposition to LSU's request that a federal court dismiss the conference's lawsuit against the university and its officials, saying a live controversy still exists between the parties and highlighting the Tigers' men's basketball team's effort to add a player who had previously signed multiple two-way NBA contracts."This case addresses a broader dispute: Defendants' complete lack of institutional control over LSU's athletic programs, their ongoing defiance of the Conference's Professionalism Rules, and the very real threat -- reiterated in Defendants' briefing -- that Defendants will interfere with any effort to terminate LSU's membership in the Conference," the SEC's court filing, issued Tuesday, said. "That dispute remains live."The dispute between the SEC and LSU arose from Tigers coach Lane Kiffin's plans to add tight end Dae'Quan Wright and defensive tackle Zxavian Harris, who both had spent time in NFL training camps before returning to school.In Tuesday's memorandum, the SEC indicated its legal action is about more than Wright and Harris."Defendants' threatened interference with the SEC's First Amendment freedoms is ongoing," the conference said. "It is notable that Defendants never say in their brief that LSU is committed to following the Professionalism Rules, maintaining institutional control, or not interfering with the SEC's First Amendment right of expressive association going forward. Any such claim would ring hollow anyway, because LSU continues to flout those Rules and principles."LSU men's basketball coach Will Wade had planned to add RJ Luis Jr., the 2025 Big East Player of the Year, to his roster this season. However, Wade said Tuesday that his team will follow SEC "protocols" despite Luis winning a preliminary injunction in a Louisiana court that gave him clearance to play this season after signing multiple two-way deals in the NBA."We're going to follow all the SEC protocols with him," Wade told reporters. "I think it's been pretty clear what the SEC protocols all are on that. He didn't travel with us to [our exhibition against McNeese], and he hasn't been rostered."The Tigers are still trying to add former UCLA standouts Donovan Dent and Skyy Clark, who secured clearance to play a fifth season through a court case in California. Clark was not listed on LSU's official roster as of Tuesday, but Dent was."LSU has openly recruited former NBA player RJ Luis Jr., has allowed him to practice with LSU's men's basketball team, and has refused to publicly and definitively state that he will not be included on LSU's basketball roster, which is not due for several more weeks," the SEC memorandum said. "LSU has also recruited international professional basketball players whose eligibility remains in question. LSU's head men's basketball coach has been candid about LSU's strategy: 'We're going to be unapologetic about it. This is who we are. This is what we're doing. This is the path that we charted. We're going to go down it, and that's fine.'"Louisiana Attorney General Elizabeth Murrill, who was named as a defendant in the SEC's lawsuit, filed a motion in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama Sept. 25 to dismiss the conference's complaint with prejudice and at the SEC's cost.LSU ultimately chose not to add Wright and Harris to its football roster, which seemed to cool the brewing dispute between the conference and one of its charter members. The SEC had scheduled a meeting of its chancellors and presidents on Sept. 10 to vote whether to dismiss LSU from the league, though that meeting was held without any sanctions levied.In the latest filing, the SEC withdrew its motions for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction because the league doesn't have a meeting scheduled to terminate LSU's membership, although the conference "expressly reserves the right to seek such relief if and when necessary."International prospects Saliou Niang, the 58th pick in the 2025 NBA draft, and Brice Dessert, who went undrafted in 2025, committed to the LSU men's basketball team earlier this year. But a new SEC rule that bans players who had previously entered the draft "without properly withdrawing" could complicate the road ahead for those players even though they never played in the NBA. Neither player is on the official LSU roster.ESPN's Myron Medcalf contributed to this report.
