HOOVER, Ala. — The 2017 Southeastern Conference Media Days opened up with comments from commissioner Greg Sankey about the history of the SEC and updates regarding potential rule changes.
Sankey discussed the decision to change the process of rescheduling games, updates to the conference’s transfer policies and the significance of integration in SEC athletics.
Changes to the rules regarding games affected by serious weather
The major conflict in the SEC last year was the situation regarding the status of LSU and Florida’s game that was threatened by Hurricane Matthew in October.
The time and place of where the game would be played turned into a fiasco between LSU, Florida and the SEC. It eventually led to all three sides’ administrations hurling negative comments towards each other in the media.
“Obviously a lot of learning last year,” Sankey said. “We didn’t have a policy as a conference once you move past game day. That’s has to be the authority of the Commissioner to designate the game day. That has been corrected.”
The change now puts the power in Sankey’s hands to make the final decision instead of the two schools having to come to an agreement.
Rule changes on players transferring
The ability and limitations on a player’s decision to transfer schools has been a highly debated issue in the SEC. Recently, schools like Alabama and LSU have come under fire for prohibiting the transfer of players to a school of their choice.
The commissioner said the discussion about influence over communication and destination choices is moving forward rapidly.
“I think you have to understand, there are a lot of pieces to those solutions,” Saney said. “Yet, I’m pleased the working group is having both the right conversations in talking about the right issues.”
Sankey said that the SEC discussed changes to financial aid and information about violence in a player’s background during the conference meetings in Destin. Sankey said that the conference is working on expanding its due diligence on transfers, and there is a further work that is being done.
50 year anniversary of breaking the color barrier in the SEC
Sankey told the story of Kentucky football player Nate Northington, the first African-American athlete to represent an SEC University and the first to play in a varsity football game. Northington made his debut on Sept. 30, 1967, against Ole Miss in Lexington, Kentucky.
“Nate Northington affected us all,” Sankey said. “This network of mutuality involves more than the four football players at Kentucky, more than just one date, one sport, one team, or one university.”
He would transfer later that year, but Northington created a pathway for other athletes in the SEC. Two other African-American players on Kentucky’s freshman team would suit up for the Wildcats, one of which would be Wilbur Hackett.
Hackett was later elected as Kentucky’s team captain, becoming the first African-American elected as a team captain among any of the SEC teams.
