The law was the main storyline arc on Monday across SEC hoops. Several stories broke with varying levels of controversy.
Nothing was more controversial than former Kentucky Wildcats, West Virginia Mountaineers, Cincinnati Bearcats, and Arizona Wildcats guard Kerr Kriisa getting arrested by the FBI. More on that below.
Elsewhere, Vanderbilt Commodores center Jalen Washington is suing the NCAA to seek an extra year of eligibility. Washington's case could go a long way in determining if the NCAA can enforce recent eligibility rule changes from the federal government.
Here were the hardwood headlines from around the SEC on Monday:
Kerr Kriisa arrested for $2.2 million fraud scheme
Kriisa "allegedly carried out a scheme to obtain nearly $2.2 million from multiple victims using false representations, fabricated identities, and deceptive communications," per the DOJ's news release on his arrest.
Per ESPN's Myron Medcalf, "According to the Department of Justice, Kriisa allegedly ran a four-year scheme that involved convincing one victim to send him money by saying his mother had cancer and needed treatment. By posing as his mother in another scheme, he allegedly told one victim he needed money to "save" the family's farm. He also allegedly acted as a woman named "Irene" to sign a fraudulent promise to repay one of the victims $100,000 by a February deadline, per the DOJ's indictment."
There's truly not much to weigh in on here. This is a sad situation the whole way around.
Florida star makes bold NBA claim, Kentucky target gets $12 million UCLA offer
Vanderbilt's Jalen Washington files suit against the NCAA
The lawfare has begun between the NCAA and players who were stripped of eligibility for the 2026-27 season based on the recent five-seasons-in-five-years rules. How the new rules work: the clock begins either when a student-athlete first enrolls full-time in college or at the start of the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever comes first. Sounds simple enough, but not so much for players who were set for another season and now won't get one.
This large-scale legal battle's opening salvo was fired in Nashville.
Per On3's Peter Nakos, "Vanderbilt center Jalen Washington is filing a suit in Tennessee seeking a TRO against the NCAA in the wake of recent age-based eligibility model, his attorney Ryan Downton tells On3."
Where this ends up is anyone's guess. There seems to be a legitimate push to clean up the sport's extended career problem, but there are clearly grounds for players' rights violations. Hence, the Williams case. Williams will be the first of many players who will be going this route. His will be a bellwether for the rest.
As we saw in the Brendan Sorsby case, the right judge in the right court could help you get eligibility back. Of course, the Texas Tech Red Raiders ultimately didn't bring Sorsby back because of the blowback, but seeking a year of eligibility without a gambling scandal attached may produce a different result if these players get years of their careers back from the courts.
How the NCAA proceeds figures to depend on the state, but Tennessee isn't all that much different from Texas in many respects. Williams' chances of victory may be higher in the wake of the Sorsby case if we're going off common sense.
It's the NCAA, though, so we might not be.
Add us as a preferred source on Google