Texas A&M’s decision on Bryson Warren shows the SEC finally got something right

Texas A&M basketball has reportedly decided to move on from the Bryson Warren situation, as was reported yesterday, in the wake of the SEC’s new rule banning former pro players in football and basketball from returning to college. Warren most recently played for the Westchester Knicks and has signed Exhibit 10 contracts with other franchises, but never went to college.

This decision comes despite the fact that the Aggies have at least an argument against the SEC’s new rule, provided to them handily by the judge who handed down the Temporary Restraining Order for Warren against the NCAA. The order not only granted Warren eligibility, but it also prevented the SEC from levying any punishments against him.

That could have been the kind of silver bullet that the Aggies needed to get Warren onto the court had they decided to fight, but there were some complications. First of all, the punishments that the SEC has decided to enact in response to the prospect of this happening are not aimed at the player— they are aimed at the institution who decides to sign and play those players, which is a relevant distinction.

Texas A&M moves on from Bryson Warren, signaling a strategic victory for the SEC

Secondly, those punishments are so harsh that it’s more than conceivable that the Aggies saw them and decided that it just wasn’t worth the trouble. The SEC was threatening to suspend a coach for 50% of the season, take 50% of that sport’s operating budget, and revoke the offending institution’s voting rights on business matters at the conference level.

That’s more than just a slap on the wrist, in other words— it is a major measure meant to stop teams from pulling this kind of thing. In other words, rather than challenge the conference— where, it should be said, the Aggies, just like every other school, are a voluntary participant— in court, Texas A&M decided it would be smarter to stand down in this case.

Now, there’s a silver lining here, for sure: the Aggies were able to re-sign Rylan Griffen thanks to a different TRO that was issued yesterday granting Griffen, who has never played professionally, another year of eligibility. That gives Bucky McMillan a huge piece back from last year’s team, and will no doubt be key for the Aggies going into year two of Bucky Ball.

That aside, though, this shows something significant for this saga going forward. Schools have been more than bold in their challenges against the NCAA, flouting the rules of what has turned out to be a largely toothless organization at every turn, but when it comes to challenging the conference in which a school participates, things are far thornier. The SEC may have just unlocked the way forward for controlling this kind of tomfoolery in the future, in other words.

At least in this case, their strategy has paid off. There are still challenges yet to come, but those may be from the individual player level rather than from the institutions themselves— it wouldn’t look good at all for a member school to sue their own conference, after all. Keep watching closely as this saga continues to unfold— we may be in for a lot more craziness before all is said and done.

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