SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey Issues Demand to NCAA Amid Tampering Debate

In the brave new world around college sports, consensus might be the toughest thing to find. But SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey will be adding his voice to the mix on whatever new changes the NIL situation sees. And in the days after a Big Ten demand on the NIL front, Sankey brings a different approach to the forefront.

In recent days, the Big Ten notably sent a letter to the NCAA asking for a ceasefire on the application of the NCAA's tampering rules. Given the Big Ten's slot at the top of the college sports food chain with the SEC, it's not surprising that the conference would be fine with a dog-eat-dog world in terms of college tampering. After all, when you are the biggest dog (or at least one of the two biggest), no rules is more freedom.

Sankey's Statements

But Sankey outlined a different path. Speaking with media at the SEC Tournament in Nashville, he had a different demand-- clarity. "We need clarity," Sankey stated, according to ESPN. "Secondly, we need understanding on the part of policymakers of what's actually happening. How's this game being played?"

According to Sankey, the need for clarity does not obscure the need for the existence of and enforcement of rules. "That doesn't mean the NCAA should just stop," said Sankey. "But the notion that a memo would be sent and that changes things when the NCAA is perceived as sitting on the sidelines, that's not a workable solution."

Conferences and Tampering

Sankey's stance is a bit surprising because in recent months, the SEC and Big Ten have tended closer to alignment on major issues that the other conferences. Both the ACC and Big 12 have already indicated their disagreement with the recent Big Ten proposal.

The SEC figures to have plenty of involvement with whatever resolution is ever effectuated in regard to tampering. The most notable incident involving the SEC was Ole Miss's belated recruitment of linebacker Luke Ferrelli from Clemson (where he had transferred from California). Ferrelli's recruitment was so incendiary that Clemson coach Dabo Swinney called a press conference, essentially recited the events of Ferrelliu's recruitment and made his very public case for tampering by the Rebels.

But the process toward any ultimate resolution to the matter remains tremendously unclear. The recent Presidential Roundtable did not demonstrate any pending legislative solution, and the chorus of voice for reform-- at least at the moment-- remain as disjointed as the voices coming from the various conferences.

Former Cal linebacker Luke Ferrelli has found himself at the center of a tampering battle. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images