Bryson Warren’s eligibility ruling could contain silver bullet against new SEC rule

The SEC has come down hard on programs attempting to get eligibility for former professional players in the last two days, with not only a statement being issued by the conference, but now a new rule being put in place to bar such things from going on. Today saw a new turn in that saga, as it was revealed that the penalties for violations of this rule would be so strident that teams are likely to avoid the entire enterprise completely.

This came chiefly in response to Lane Kiffin’s attempts to get two former Ole Miss players, who left NFL rosters and entered the transfer portal, eligible to play this year for his LSU Tigers team. This was a completely unprecedented move on the part of Kiffin and LSU, and fans, predictably, pushed back hard against what many considered a crushing blow to the integrity of the sport.

However, though football was the main culprit here, the SEC decided to extend their ban further than just players who had been part of an NFL roster and now hoped to return to college. They looped in the NBA, WNBA, and the G-League— likely thanks in large part to the debacle we saw last year with Charles Bediako of Alabama coming back from a G-League team midseason before being declared ineligible.

Bryson Warren eligibility ruling may be the next big step in professional player debacle

Though Bediako may have been front of mind when making this policy, the wording turns out to have deleterious effects on Bucky McMillan’s roster for Texas A&M basketball this year. Former G-League player Bryson Warren, who never went to college, was set to key contributor for the Aggies given his shooting ability, but once he was declared ineligible by the NCAA, fans knew he’d have to go through the court system to get that overturned.

That came to pass today, but it seemed like it was too late, given the rule that the SEC just set out. However, a small footnote from the text of the restraining order declaring Warren eligible turns out that it may make the intimidating penalties that the SEC has threatened completely toothless— and that would be the next big step in this crazy, unfolding saga if it were to come to pass.

That the SEC is specifically named here as a party who is disallowed from restricting Warren’s eligibility is very significant. If this ruling holds up— and, according to this post, it is set to go to court before the basketball season starts, so nothing is final here— then the SEC would not be able to penalize Warren or Texas A&M for his participation in games.

If that is the case, then whatever precedent this sets (though it will likely be challenged by the SEC in court) will be something that other players will try to appeal to when they are in the situation that the SEC is attempting to eradicate. The immediate concern is whether this will allow Warren to participate this season for Bucky McMillan’s squad, but the far-reaching implications of what this could do in this now-very-large debate should not be lost on Aggie fans.

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