There's a growing battle over whether former professional athletes should be allowed to return to college sports. Powerhouse Louisiana State University wants to add former NFL players who were recently cut.
Ideastream Public Media’s sports commentator Terry Pluto says one of those players is undrafted tight end Dae’Quan Wright, who was recently waived by the Browns.
“In the end, he wasn't good enough to make it,” Pluto said. “He had played the previous couple of years at Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi, and then he decides, well, I'm going to go back to college. Meanwhile, his coach at Ole Miss is a guy named Lane Kiffin, who had just left Ole Miss to take a job at Louisiana State, LSU. And Lane Kiffin says, ‘Hey, come on back.’”
The legal fight over eligibility started with basketball. In June, the NCAA gave athletes starting with the class of 2023 five seasons to play within a five-year window. That prompted lawsuits from 2022 graduates who argued they should get the same opportunity.
For Pluto, allowing athletes to move between professional and college sports crosses an important line.
“So, you tried out with the Cavs, you didn't make it," Pluto said. "Then you can go to the G League, which is their minor league team, or you go play over in Europe somewhere. You don't go back to Cleveland State or Ohio State or any of that. That's how it should be."
And he says the incentives facing coaches make the issue even more complicated.
“Some coaches, like Tom Izzo from Michigan State, an all-time Hall of Fame basketball coach, (say), ‘This is ridiculous. I’m against it,’ all that,” Pluto said. “But other guys are saying, ‘Well, if I don’t take the guy, somebody else will take the guys, and I’m gonna take the guy and try to win.’”
That competitive pressure comes as college sports have already undergone major changes. The Southeastern Conference and other Power 4 conferences subsequently moved to prevent athletes who have entered professional sports from returning to college competition.
Pluto explained why this is becoming more prevalent.
“Number one is you can get paid now with the NIL (Name, image and likeness), Pluto said. "So, it's basically like going to another pro league."
The other reason is the transfer portal.
“Everybody's transferring schools all the time," Pluto said. "Lower Division I schools are already like farm teams for higher Division I schools and the kids transferring for a chance to get more money, NIL money or whatever it is. Then a lot of times the lower Division I schools are picking up kids from Division II schools. Basically, you're creating like a minor league system for these kids to bounce from school to school.”
Pluto said all that movement has consequences for players who are just entering college.
“There are fewer opportunities for them because coaches are keeping their scholarships and things open and roster spots for players either on the transfer portal or now bouncing back from the pros,” he said.
That’s ultimately why Pluto believes former professionals shouldn’t be allowed to return to college competition.
“Once you turn pro, you're a pro, and even though we are paying you in college, it is not the pros," Pluto said. "And I get it that they should have an opportunity. If you're really good in three years, you want to decor for the draft, fine, declare for the draft, and then if you get picked and you go out, but you get cut, well, too bad. You should have stayed in school for another year.
Pluto said the debate could have implications well beyond the current cases.
“This is a fluid situation," he said. "Things keep changing. I'm very curious to see where it's going, but I think this is an under-reported story. No one is talking about the fact that I just think younger athletes are being hurt by this. I will be interested to see, like in the women's game. You know, right now it's about football and that this case is, but it's got a lot of ramifications elsewhere. To me, it's wrong.”
