Big Ten and SEC Ban Former Professional Athletes from College Sports

The Big Ten and Southeastern Conference voted unanimously on Tuesday to forbid former professional athletes from returning to compete in collegiate athletics. The decisions follow legal injunctions that permitted several athletes to rejoin college programs after spending time on professional rosters.

Under the new conference rules, any athlete who declared for a professional draft without properly withdrawing, appeared on a professional roster, or signed a contract with a professional league is barred from playing at a member institution. Big Ten programs face head coach suspensions for 50 percent of remaining games and financial fines if they violate the policy, while SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey received authority to enforce penalties including team suspensions.

The policy moves stem from a recent court order in Louisiana that granted 16 athletes a temporary restraining order for a fifth year of eligibility. Following the ruling, LSU attempted to roster former professional football players Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, along with former professional basketball player RJ Luis Jr.

The Big Ten issued an official statement outlining the scope of its roster restrictions.

"The Big Ten Conference announced Tuesday the unanimous adoption of a conference rule to prohibit football players who have signed a professional contract, were on a professional roster at any point or declared for the NFL Draft as an underclassman without withdrawing, from maintaining eligibility for athletic competition at a conference institution," the league said. "The conference continues to evaluate potential rules restricting professional athletes in other sports from conference competition."

The league also expressed interest in working toward broader legislative solutions with federal lawmakers.

"Courts across the country granting relief to ineligible athletes who already had every opportunity to compete in college -- sometimes without even having a hearing -- are failing to appreciate the destabilizing effect their rulings are having on college sports," the NCAA said Tuesday.

Officials noted that federal intervention could assist in maintaining consistent regulations across college athletics.

"The lawyers bringing these cases seemingly won't be satisfied until every professional athlete can treat college sports as a fallback option, regardless of the opportunities it strips from both those who will never have a chance to begin their collegiate sports experience and those who are currently on campus working out with the team and attending classes. Thankfully, Congress can right this wrong by passing the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act and ensure student-athletes can have a level playing field with rules that apply fairly to everyone," the NCAA said Tuesday.

The Southeastern Conference issued its own official statements explaining the institutional stance on college athlete eligibility.

"College athletes, not former professional athletes, have been at the heart of the Southeastern Conference," the SEC's statement read. "Individuals who choose to leave college athletics, sign professional playing contracts, and compete professionally should not then be permitted to return to college competition."

The conference detailed specific conditions governing player eligibility across multiple sports leagues.

"Following meetings with the presidents, chancellors, and athletics directors of the Southeastern Conference, the SEC will enforce the following policy: An SEC institution is NOT permitted to have an athlete on its roster who has: 1. Previously declared for the NFL, NBA, or WNBA DRAFT, and did not appropriately withdraw, 2. Signed a contract with an NFL (or other professional football league), NBA/G-League, or WNBA (or affiliate) team, or 3. Been listed on an NFL (or other professional football league), NBA/G-League, or WNBA (or affiliate roster)," the statement from the SEC presidents, chancellors and athletic directors said Tuesday night.

League leadership emphasized that the measures maintain fairness for incoming student-athletes.

"College sports are for college athletes," the conference added. "The current confusion around national eligibility standards emphasizes the need to advance the Protect College Sports Act."

College football coaches expressed mixed perspectives on handling the situation as rosters were being finalized.

"Do I like anything about it? Absolutely not," Day told reporters. "But we got to do what's right for Ohio State. So it's sort of a day-to-day thing right now, and like anything, we're just going to try to adapt."

Other head coaches strongly voiced opposition to allowing former professionals back into college programs.

"I think there are a lot of negatives that are involved around this," Lanning told reporters. "One, once you go to the NFL, to me, you're in the NFL. You don't get the opportunity to come back.

Two, most of us have built our rosters. You have a limited roster now."

Head coaches also noted potential roster management issues for current college players.

"So if you've invited somebody back to your team, that means you're kicking somebody else off your team to match your roster limits. I don't think that's fair to players who worked all summer, all spring, and put themselves in position to be ready to work for a team," Lanning told reporters.

LSU Head Coach Lane Kiffin addressed the circumstances surrounding the court rulings and roster decisions.

"There are a lot of parts of this I don't like," Kiffin said Tuesday on The Pat McAfee Show. "I don't think professionals should come back to college sports and college football. But in this instance, these are not players who have gone on to play seasons professionally or randomly filed an injunction. This is part of a specific class that was ruled wrong by the NCAA that was supposed to be [five years to play five seasons]."

The Atlantic Coast Conference is scheduled to meet on Wednesday to discuss adopting similar rules, while the Big 12 Conference is also considering a ban on former professional players.