Three former Rebels granted a restraining order to return to college football

On Wednesday afternoon, Adam Schefter of ESPN broke news that a temporary restraining order against the NCAA had been granted for over 30 players to play another year of college sports.

This whole restraining order against the NCAA thing has gotten wild for sure, but the last one played out pretty well for Ole Miss. The Rebels are back at the forefront this time as Zxavian Harris, Wydette Williams and Dae’Quan Wright were a part of the lawsuit seeking another year of eligibility.

This is related to the injunction put in place on July 31 that has allowed Judd Utermark and Will Furniss to return to the Ole Miss Baseball program in 2027. Essentially, the high school class of 2022 is the only class of athletes that did not benefit from the added eligibility from COVID or the new 5-in-5 rule put in place by the NCAA.

According to the lawsuit, if the players, such as Williams and Wright, are released by their NFL teams by September 1, they will be eligible to return to a college roster. The restraining order only holds a 10 day window with just a one week transfer window.

Here is an important note, the ruling by Charles Sweeney on July 31, made a way for guys like Utermark and Furniss to return, it did not automatically make players eligible who signed a pro contract. That is why this lawsuit and restraining order were needed.

Now the begs the question about those three players and their chances to return to Ole Miss. Would they enter the portal and go play for Lane Kiffin?

Greg Sankey said the following about the situation a week ago:

“Recent court rulings should not be interpreted as creating broader eligibility relief beyond the scope of the applicable orders. In addition, SEC eligibility rules, including those relating to intraconference transfers, remain in effect until fully or individually waived, or the rule is changed.”

So even if the handful of former SEC athletes were to return and maybe forced to transfer due to NIL or roster spots, they would have to transfer out of the conference. So we should not worry about Zxavian Harris batting down Trinidad Chambliss passes or Dae’Quan Wright catching touchdowns against us, not in SEC play at least.

Plus, let’s not forget this banger of a quote from Harris, “”That’s what Kiffin tried to do. He tried to be a damn announcer … trying to be a troll. We were going to troll him. We got something for him. He was just trying to steal our shine. That’s all he tried to do.That’s all he’s been trying to do, is steal our shine.”

This news isn’t going to be a shock to Pete Golding and the staff. They have been aware of the lawsuit and been having conversations with the players involved. That does not mean the Rebels will see any of the three return, especially since Zxavian Harris has already entered the transfer portal as of today.