The LSU Tigers could be getting their new transfers after all, as Louisiana District Court Judge William Jorden ruled in their favor in Thursday's court case against the NCAA. The SEC still stands in their way.
Louisiana District Court Judge William Jorden has ruled in favor of the players in Thursday's monumental trial, which will now lead to more than 40 collegiate athletes potentially returning to the NCAA, including a handful of LSU Tigers transfers who have been the talk of the country for the past week.
This doesn't end the drama around it, at least for the Tigers, as earlier on Thursday, the SEC filed a federal lawsuit in Alabama against LSU and their leadership, including head coach Lane Kiffin.
It's important to note that while this does seemingly pave the way for them to return to the NCAA as a whole, the players involved who wanted to go to the SEC could still have issues. The conference has already threatened punishment if the players do end up seeing the field, with the harshest being expulsion from the conference.
Now it's a waiting game to see what happens with that case, if it makes it to court. The Tigers will likely be adding the players to their roster in the coming days, and they could take the field anyway, despite what the threats from the conference say.
An important note from this case, per Ross Dellenger, is that the judge essentially issued a court order to keep LSU from rostering the players. That would help them in a potential court case against their conference.
Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, both former Ole Miss Rebels, have been practicing. Both players also took the stand on Thursday to help win the case.
Harris, a massive 6-foot-8, 330-pound defensive lineman who had signed with the New Orleans Saints as a UDFA, said the most he received was $190 in gas money. He was undrafted and was rehabbing from an injury. The entire time, meaning he never took the field for the team.
The defensive lineman told media after the session, per video Cory Diaz of The Advertiser, that he will likely be ready for the game against his former team. There was no chance that he was going to miss that matchup if anything could help it.
Wright is a different story. He hasn't had the same setbacks that Harris has this offseason, so he says he's ready to play this weekend. He also did receive $25,000 from the Philadelphia Eagles, and nothing from the Cleveland Browns, though. He also claimed that not playing this year would cost him up to seven figures, potentially.
LSU will certainly be better with them on their team, but it'll be interesting to see how they perform and fit into the roster after joining so late. Both will be watched under a microscope all season long.
