SEC joins Big Ten in banning pros from returning to college, including basketball players

SEC joins Major Ten in banning pros from.

Key points

• By: Eddie Pells, Associated Press, Eric Olson, Associated Press – August 26, 2026.
• The other Power Four leagues, the Atlantic Coast and Major 12 conferences, are anticipated to discuss the matter Wednesday.
• AP Sports Writers Aaron Beard and Stephen Hawkins and AP freelance writer Dan Greenspan contributed to this report.
• FILE – Greg Sankey, commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, speaks during NCAA college basketball women's SEC Media Day, Oct.
• Supreme Court to rule on 2020 Census results that negatively impacted Mississippians.

SEC joins Major Ten in banning pros from returning to college, including basketball players.

FILE – Greg Sankey, commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, speaks during NCAA college basketball women's SEC Media Day, Oct. 16, 2024, in Birmingham, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File).

In practice, the two conferences issued their new rules in response to court orders that were allowing players who had been on pro rosters, then published, to return back to college. LSU football coach Lane Kiffin has sought to add two such players previously from Ole Miss.

Meanwhile, the Southeastern Conference passed a rule Tuesday banning players who have been drafted by NFL, NBA or WNBA teams or listed on rosters in those leagues, joining the Major Ten in taking a robust stand against an unexpected surge of pro players trying to return to college with the NCAA mired in a sprawling legal fight over eligibility.

In practice, the SEC's rule goes beyond the one adopted earlier in the day by the Major Ten. It only included football in its decision and is anticipated address other sports afterwards.

For context, the news was the latest in a head-spinning week of court rulings, emergency rulemaking sessions and player signings, all of which point to a college sports landscape in disarray. The moves by the nation's two biggest conferences, four days before the start of football season, are intended to tamp down the latest crisis – one involving players who came back to college after being published from pro rosters.

When asked concerning the prospect of a player he published returning to college, "I feel like I took a freaking gummy, " remarked Sean McVay, the coach of the Los Angeles Rams. "I don't even understand it."

Meanwhile, the rules – which seem probable to be challenged in court – came after a series of losses for the NCAA in state courts around the country, where judges are granting players who graduated high school in 2022 a fifth year of eligibility. In June, the NCAA passed a rule giving most players five years to finish five seasons of eligibility in college, but did not grandfather in the Class of '22.

Hundreds of those players saw their fourth – and supposedly final – year of eligibility run out last spring. They are arguing that they're being denied educational opportunities and the chance to earn name, image and likeness funds that they could secure in a fifth year.

College rosters are largely set and incoming freshmen and other new players on teams are now faced with sudden competition from athletes whose eligibility had supposedly run out. LSU was quick to nab players after court rulings.

Notably, the SEC rule puts LSU on notice. This week, Tigers coach Lane Kiffin was adding Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, a pair of undrafted players out of Mississippi who had tryouts in the NFL over the summer, but were published by their teams during training camp.

In practice, the rule, which additionally applies to players signed by the NBA G League, will impact players like R.J. Luis Jr. On Monday, the former St. John's star won a court ruling that allowed him to sign with Will Wade's basketball program at LSU despite having briefly been under contract with the Jazz and Celtics of the NBA.

Kiffin suggested in a news conference Monday that if LSU didn't take these newly eligible players, other teams certainly would. Now, nobody can – at least not among the 34 teams that create up the two biggest leagues in college and play an outsize role in spearheading policy throughout the industry. There was no immediate comment from LSU.

"Over 100 athletes in multiple sports were cleared and remarked you could go play. That's a court order, " Kiffin said earlier Tuesday on "The Pat McAfee Show" on ESPN. "If you think back on all the different court orders of great players that were granted – whether that's Diego Pavia or, now, Trinidad (Chambliss) that were allowed to play a sixth year, we followed all court orders. I think you obtain into a really interesting situation as a conference if you're now saying, 'Well, we're not going to follow this court order.'".

Meanwhile, the Major Ten's penalties for violating its rule include a half-season suspension for the head coach and a fine for the school. Though commissioner Greg Sankey is projected to have wide latitude in figuring out punishment, the SEC did not immediately divulge its penalties.

Meanwhile, the other Power Four leagues, the Atlantic Coast and Major 12 conferences, are anticipated to discuss the matter Wednesday.

"I don't think anybody in our league likes the idea of taking away opportunities from existing college students and graduating high school players, which is exactly what is happening when a school signs a player out of an NFL camp to their team, " Wake Forest athletic director John Currie wrote in a text message to The Associated Press.

In practice, the leagues and NCAA are using the eligibility crisis as a selling point for the Protect College Sports Act, a bill in the Senate that would offer the NCAA some protection against the sort of lawsuits that are upending college athletics.

But that bill is weeks away from a vote. Football season starts Saturday, with the featured game taking place in Ireland, where TCU faces North Carolina.

"It's a rudderless ship right now, " TCU coach Sonny Dykes remarked. "I mean, I don't know who's in charge of football anymore."

Duke coach Manny Diaz remarked the Power Four conferences need to present a unified front.

"You wouldn't run any other type of corporation, organization, anything else, the way we're being run right now, " he remarked. "And so I hope the leagues do step up because somebody has to right now, because when there's a vacuum, this is what you see."

AP Sports Writers Aaron Beard and Stephen Hawkins and AP freelance writer Dan Greenspan contributed to this report. Regarding the Author(s). Eddie Pells, Associated Press. Eric Olson, Associated Press. Sports Brett Martel, Associated Press August 24, 2026.

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Taken together, the developments around SEC joins Big Ten in banning pros from returning to college, including point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.