Players' attorney calls out NCAA in statement on Louisiana ruling

The preliminary injunction that Louisiana District Judge William Jorden signed on Thursday evening reached past the NCAA and the SEC. It also covered LSU, barring the school from taking any action that negatively affects the 42 athletes suing in state court for a fifth season of eligibility, and the plaintiffs' lawyers asked for that inclusion deliberately.

LSU faces a midnight Friday deadline to submit its final 105-man roster to the College Sports Commission, one day before it hosts Clemson at Tiger Stadium. 

Former Ole Miss tight end Dae'Quan Wright and defensive tackle Zxavian Harris, both of whom followed Lane Kiffin to Baton Rouge, have each said they expect to be on it. Harris has been rehabbing a foot injury and is expected to be available around Week 3.

The SEC filed its own lawsuit against LSU on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, naming the school's board of supervisors, president Wade Rousse, athletic director Verge Ausberry and Kiffin as defendants. 

That filing landed while commissioner Greg Sankey was on the stand in Baton Rouge, where he testified for roughly three hours, and one of the plaintiffs' attorneys raised it in open court.

Why the players' lawyers wanted LSU bound by the same order

Ryan Downton, who represents the plaintiffs alongside Tony Clayton, set out the reasoning in a statement to Front Office Sports on Friday.

"After the SEC indulged in the theatrics of suing LSU while Greg Sankey took the stand in Baton Rouge, it became necessary to enjoin LSU to protect our clients from further harm. The lengths to which the SEC appeared willing to go to circumvent court orders protecting these athletes had become clear. We expect all parties to follow court orders. We call on the NCAA to follow its own rules and stop misleading courts as well as conferences for political gain."