Last season, Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris were starters on an Ole Miss football team that was a few plays away from making the national championship game. Outside of their own state, though, they were relatively anonymous.
Over the past several weeks, that's changed dramatically.
Wright and Harris are at the center of the most intense and breathlessly debated story in college sports as the two former Ole Miss players are set to return to college to play for Lane Kiffin at LSU , even after they had previously signed NFL contracts.
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Both players were members of the 2022 recruiting class who thought they had exhausted their college eligibility last season, but after the NCAA adopted a five-for-five eligibility model in June that would have given them another season of eligibility had outgoing seniors been grandfathered in with the new rule, they took their case to court and were granted a temporary restraining order that will allow them to compete during the 2026 season. Their effort to return to college received another boost on Thursday, Sept. 3, when a Louisiana judge granted an injunction that would prohibit the SEC or NCAA from punishing any school that puts former professional players on the field.
Where do things stand with Wright and Harris? And how, exactly, did we get to this point?
Here's what you need to know:
While they weren't as widely known as some of their teammates, stars like quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy, Wright and Harris were consistently productive players for an Ole Miss team in 2025 that won a school-record 13 games and made the semifinals of the College Football Playoff, where it narrowly lost to Miami.
After the season, Wright and Harris, both of whom were seniors, weren't selected in the 2026 NFL Draft. Both, however, signed professional contracts. Wright agreed to a deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, who waived him on Aug. 10. One day later, he was claimed off waivers by the Cleveland Browns and suited up for the team in its preseason game against the Buffalo Bills on Aug. 22. He was waived two days later. Harris, meanwhile, signed with the New Orleans Saints before being waived on Aug. 10.
Even as both players were trying to make an NFL roster, they were part of a group of athletes from the 2022 recruiting class that had brought forth a lawsuit against the NCAA for an additional year of eligibility. A judge in Louisiana granted them a temporary restraining order and opened their path back to college. Both Wright and Harris committed to LSU, where they reunited with Kiffin, who had left Ole Miss for the Tigers after the 2025 regular season. Harris said on Friday, Sept. 4 that he was originally planning on returning to the Rebels, but that the coaching staff wanted to move him from defensive tackle to the offensive line.
In response to those moves, the SEC passed a measure that would ban NFL players from returning to college and competing for any of the conference's 16 members. But on Thursday, Sept. 3, two days before LSU's season-opener against Clemson, Judge William Jorden approved a preliminary injunction that prohibits the SEC and NCAA from punishing a school like LSU that would put former NFL players on the field.
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Thanks to Thursday's ruling from Jorden, the door is open for Wright and Harris to join the LSU roster.
Wright told reporters that he plans to be ready to play for the Tigers against Clemson on Saturday, Sept. 5 and added that he had practiced with LSU for two days this week.
"I've been working out doing my own thing before I was able to practice, so I'm definitely well prepared," Wright said .
Harris, meanwhile, said he will need a couple of weeks but that he will be ready for the Tigers' highly anticipated Sept. 19 game at Ole Miss, in which Kiffin will return to the school where he coached for six seasons before his messy exit last November.
Even with Jorden's ruling, though, LSU could be risking significant repercussions from the SEC. As such, they were left off LSU's roster heading into the season opener against Clemson. They could, however, join the team later as they're both enrolled with the school.
While both players will give LSU some depth, neither figures to be a starter for the Tigers, at least to start the season. Wright is a productive tight end who earned second-team All-SEC honors last season, but he figures to be behind 6-foot-7 sophomore star Trey'Dez Green, who had seven touchdown receptions last season. Harris, a 6-foot-8 defensive lineman, will likely also be coming off the bench.
Last season, Wright caught 39 passes for 635 yards and five touchdowns. As a junior in 2024, he had 27 catches for 394 yards and four touchdowns.
Wright played his first two college seasons at Virginia Tech before transferring to Ole Miss.
Harris was a part of a stout Ole Miss defense last season, totaling 58 tackles, three sacks and an interception.
The Mississippi native spent his first four college seasons with the Rebels. During that time, he put up 122 tackles, 5.5 sacks, an interception and a forced fumble.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why Dae'Quan Wright, Zxavian Harris are at center of college football's biggest controversy
