Have you ever wondered what happened to the soap operas — midday dramas like "As the World Turns" — that were so popular in the latter half of the 20th century? They've been replaced by reality TV and by stranger-than-fiction, real-life dramas playing out every day in this country.
Take the recent NCAA eligibility litigation unfolding in Louisiana, starring Lane Kiffin and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. In reporting by Chris Hummer and Matt Zenitz of CBSSports.com, Sankey filed an affidavit asking Judge Ronald Johnson (East Baton Rouge Parish) to uphold NCAA rules barring athletes from returning to college competition after signing pro deals.
Sankey's affidavit responds to a suit filed by former St. John's guard RJ Luis, the 2024-25 Big East Player of the Year, who has since committed to LSU. That case is being heard in the same courthouse as a separate suit filed days later by 32 athletes across multiple sports, including three currently on NFL rosters.
Three of those plaintiffs — Dae'Quan Wright, Zxavian Harris, and Wydett Williams Jr. — most recently played at Ole Miss under Lane Kiffin.
Is it a coincidence that players who played under Kiffin have found a court in Louisiana friendly to a case that could benefit the state's flagship university?
Sankey argued the rules are "essential to the integrity of college sports" and that allowing pros back into NCAA competition would undermine "fundamental principles," harming both incoming high schoolers and programs that followed the existing rules.
CBS Sports confirms the Louisiana judge's order goes further than just hearing the case — it granted an injunction barring the NCAA from enforcing rules that block players who signed pro contracts from returning, at least for the plaintiffs involved. Tampa Bay Buccaneers edge rusher Jack Pyburn and Cleveland Browns tight end Dae'Quan Wright were both named plaintiffs, and Wright has already entered the transfer portal. Judge Johnson's order is limited to the named plaintiffs and stands only until an injunction hearing, but it's already reshaping how front offices are operating a week before the season.
Front-office sources describe bracing for a flood of copycat filings — a Big 12 general manager told CBS Sports his program is actively hoping for more plaintiffs to "saturate the market."
Insiders expect the next wave to mostly involve players cut from NFL rosters, though active roster players — particularly undrafted rookies likely to be cut before the Aug. 30 deadline — are also expected to file. Sources named LSU and Ole Miss specifically as programs positioned to pursue both returning former players and portal additions.
Complicating Factors
SEC transfer rules in question: Sankey issued a memo earlier this month reaffirming that SEC intraconference transfer restrictions remain in place post-deadline. Sources are split on whether the Louisiana ruling’s language creates a loophole for a school like LSU to circumvent that — an open, actively contested question.
Roster limits still apply: The temporary restraining order (TRO) doesn’t touch the NCAA’s 105-player roster cap, so most teams have little room to add players regardless of new eligibility, though one staffer noted walk-on/medical roster maneuvers as a workaround some may explore.
This marks the second major eligibility ruling out of Louisiana courts in roughly a week, following the Aug. 19 TRO in Pyburn et al. v. NCAA (19th JDC, Baton Rouge) — the case CBS Sports reports on directly. Combined with the Luis and 32-athlete filings, plaintiffs' counsel appear to be deliberately selecting Louisiana as a favorable venue, likely reinforced by LSU's apparent institutional willingness to accept returning/transferring players — the same dynamic that puts Sankey's affidavit at odds with a member school in his own conference.
Why this matters
These court cases — including Sankey's legal opposition — are worth understanding, as they could alter active rosters a week before kickoff, with real transfer portal movement already underway. They're also likely to continue shaping the season as the Louisiana rulings and further copycat suits interact unpredictably.
The NCAA Catches a Break — In Colorado
While Louisiana courts have gone against the NCAA, the Tenth Circuit just handed it a rare win in a parallel eligibility fight out of Colorado. The NCAA's pending Tenth Circuit appeal of the original Colorado preliminary injunction (which restored eligibility broadly for the 2022 class) could reverse that ruling and trigger yet another wave of individual state-court suits — meaning this eligibility fight likely persists in-season.
The NCAA issued a statement following the Tenth Circuit's decision to stay in the preliminary injunction in Wisne v. NCAA. Key points:
The Tenth Circuit Court issued a stay on Friday of the Colorado District Court’s preliminary injunction, which had allowed some players from the 2022 class an additional year of eligibility. The stay returns Division I schools to the status quo that existed before the district court intervened — the age-based eligibility rules are back in effect as originally intended.
Class members who were allowed to compete because of the Wisne injunction are no longer eligible to compete.
The Association will continue to defend similar class-action lawsuits and state-court cases filed by former student-athletes seeking additional eligibility. The NCAA is expeditiously appealing cases where former student-athletes have been, or will be, granted additional eligibility through separate state court rulings, and welcomed the Ohio Court of Appeals’ decision to stay those injunctions pending its own appeal.
Institutions will not face violations for any class members who competed consistent with the scope of the Wisne injunction prior to the stay being granted — but those former student-athletes are no longer eligible now that the injunction has been stayed.
NCAA staff will continue to process hardship waivers or season-of-competition waivers submitted for a class member by the July 31, 2026 deadline. While the grinding process of transfer portal legislation drives us all nuts, look on the bright side — we no longer need “The Young and the Restless for midday drama.”
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