LSU football coach Lane Kiffin asked his player leadership council whether they were okay with the Tigers signing returning fifth-year players to the roster this late into the preseason. Quarterback Sam Leavitt says the team leaders wanted their coach to do what he thought could make the team better.
“We were all nothing but excited for the opportunity to bring guys in and help us win some games. I don’t really know why there’s such an issue with it if it’s their fifth year; you know, everybody gets five years in college,” Leavitt said.
Notre Dame transfer defensive end Junior Tuihalamaka and former Ole Miss and NFL tight end Dae’Quan Wright are now practicing with the Tigers. Senior linebacker Whit Weeks says they have been valuable additions, and the team is not distracted by outside noise.
“He said, ‘If we don’t want them to come back and play, then they won’t come back.’ But we were like, ‘If that’s the rules, we might as well go ahead and take these guys.’ But as far as what I’ve seen from them, in the short amount of time that I’ve gotten to know them, it’s just the experience that they bring and how they go about their business,” Weeks noted.
Wright was one of Kiffin’s top pass-catchers at Ole Miss last season, with 635 yards and five touchdowns. Junior tight end Trey’Dez Green says he doesn’t mind the reinforcements to the tight end room.
“It’s amazing to me, even if it means less catches, less yards; I’m all about just bringing us a national championship back to Baton Rouge, and Dae’Quan is amazing. I had a chance to talk with him, and it’s just been blowing up; we’ve just clicked ever since we met each other. So I’m excited,” Green said.
Wright, Tuihalamaka and dozens of other athletes have a preliminary injunction hearing tomorrow to determine their eligibility status moving forward.
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