SEC votes to punish schools that sign pros returning to college, LSU abstains

SEC presidents approved penalties Wednesday for schools that sign players with professional experience, including coach suspensions and fines, with LSU the only school to abstain. The move follows a Tuesday vote to enforce bans on athletes who dropped out of pro leagues, and comes as LSU coach Lane Kiffin has recruited players made eligible by a court injunction. The penalties mirror those for ghost transfers and are part of a broader dispute over eligibility rules.

The penalties approved Wednesday mirror those previously established for ghost transfers, targeting coaches with half-season suspensions and schools with fines equal to 50 percent of the sport's annual operating budget. Additional consequences include loss of conference voting privileges and discretionary penalties from the commissioner and presidents. The vote followed Tuesday's unanimous 16-0 decision to enforce bans on athletes who left pro leagues.

The dispute stems from the NCAA's June age-based eligibility rule, which created a five-year playing window but excluded Class of 2022 athletes who exhausted eligibility under prior standards. State court injunctions, including one in Louisiana, have allowed some players to return, though the SEC and Big Ten argue these injunctions don't bind individual conferences. Player lawyers have threatened contempt claims but haven't yet filed suit.