This past week, both basketball and football teams at LSU signed former professional athletes to their rosters, with forward RJ Luis joining the basketball program and tight end Dae’Quan Wright joining the football program. Luis was signed and traded to the Boston Celtics, but was quickly cut and then signed to their G League affiliate, where he missed last season due to injury. Wright was also undrafted and was a member of the Browns until leaving the team this past week.
There is no room for debate; both of these players were professional athletes who signed professional contracts. Neither player ever played at the top level of their sport, but they are no longer amateurs.
Thankfully, each power conference has since banned, or is working to ban, professional athletes from returning to college. Coaches will be suspended, and universities will be fined if they decide to add professional players to their rosters.
The phrase “common sense” is thrown around a lot these days, but this decision is the most common-sense move we’ve seen in college sports recently. With the advent of NIL, it feels disingenuous to consider these athletes amateurs, but they’re still not pros. It’s a bit ridiculous that any university can find a rogue judge to rule in favor of player for their eligibility when they obviously don’t deserve it. Every team in the country is trying to find a way to extract extra eligibility out of athletes, and it’s ruining what makes college sports great.
Watching a player grow to the peak of their abilities by their senior year is one of the coolest things in sports; however, it’s also great to see players shine at the college level, leave school early, and start their pro careers. And once they start their pro careers, that should be the end of their collegiate career.
I don’t spite the players for trying to get another paycheck in college; I blame the coaches and universities trying to dodge the rules we’ve had in place for decades. Will Wade and Lane Kiffin are notorious for toeing the line, or even going well over the line, but this might be their most egregious move yet.
For years it has been if you don’t pull yourself out of the draft, then you can’t go back to college. It’s one of the few rules in college sports that’s always made sense, and doesn’t need to be changed. These type of things keep happening with Wade and Kiffin too. LSU was the only school to abstain from the vote on bringing back professional players, because they’re the only school trying something that dumb. Let’s all use our brains and fix something simple.
