U.S. District judge Anne Marie Carney has set a hearing date of Nov. 18 in a Birmingham, Ala. courtroom to hear the Southeastern Conference’s latest motion in its lawsuit against LSU.
Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported the hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. for the Northern District of Alabama in Birmingham, the same city that’s home to the SEC.
The SEC filed a lawsuit on Sept. 3 that named defendants LSU, its Board of Supervisors, LSU president Wade Rouse, LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry and LSU head football coach Lane Kiffin.
The league contended that because Kiffin was attempting to roster football players Dae’Quan Wright and Xzavian Atkins, both of whom spent time in NFL training camps, and basketball coach Will Wade added to roster RJ Luis, who signed contracts with the Boston Celtics and Utah Jazz.
The suit said LSU was in violation of the conference’s professionalism rules and infringed on the SEC’s First Amendment right of expressive association.
The league scheduled a Sept. 10 vote of university CEOs to expel LSU from the league, but didn’t move forward when LSU when neither football player was added to the active roster, and Wade abandoned his pursuit of Luis, who received a preliminary injunction in a Baton Rouge courtroom on Aug. 24 to begin practicing.
Louisiana attorney general Liz Murrill sought to have the lawsuit dismissed once the football players were not rostered, calling the effort “moot.”
Once again, she reiterated her push for a dismissal to the lawsuit with the release of a time and date to hear the latest motion by the SEC.
“So obvious is the case for dismissal that the SEC throws a Hail Mary: new (and demonstrably false) claims that the LSU men’s basketball program is violating SEC rules. Enough is enough.“
