Former Arkansas defensive tackle Danny Saili was the Oklahoma Sooners’ final roster piece after being a last-minute addition just last week in the middle of fall camp. But now, all of a sudden, he’s not. Maybe? Who really knows anymore?
Eligibility in college sports is an absolute mess right now and changes literally by the day with court ruling after court ruling. Just on Friday, more court mumbo jumbo flipped the federal judge ruling that gave class of 2022 recruits who already exhausted their eligibility another year. That means after a few weeks of being eligible, barring a different court ruling, those athletes are now ineligible again, including Saili, at least for now.
Big news. Class of 2022 athletes who exhausted four years of eligibility this past spring are now ineligible unless they are part of their own lawsuit/injunction.
— Sam C. Ehrlich (@samcehrlich) August 21, 2026
Not much in terms of rationale, but, notably, one of the three judges on the panel would have denied the stay. https://t.co/R8I2STJ13p pic.twitter.com/UeEyKC6KQH
To make matters more confusing, the two fifth-year additions OU’s men’s basketball program just made are still eligible because they were included in different court rulings. There is no blanket ruling yet on if athletes in the same situation are eligible or not, and the college football season is just a week away. More than likely, none of this will be sorted by the time football is on our TV.
It’s chaos that has college athletic departments scrambling by the day, but there is a clear and simple way guys like OU head coach Brent Venables and general manager Jim Nagy don’t have to deal with it. Simply, don’t. Just avoid the chaos and there is none.
Brent Venables and Jim Nagy can avoid the roster headache overtaking college sports
Saili and others are expected to join other lawsuits to get that lost eligibility back. No disrespect to Saili, but is a depth piece along the defensive line really worth another legal battle for OU and not really knowing what you have just two weeks before the season opens against UTEP on Friday, Sept. 4?
David Stone and Jayden Jackson have the starting defensive tackle spots locked down. The Sooners added Georgia State transfer Bishop Thomas through the portal over the offseason for more depth and also have young talent like James “Tank” Carrington who will benefit from experience. That's what recruiting is for, and now there's also the transfer portal as a second option to find needed talent.
Another body at the position would be great, but if the Sooners really needed it, they would have added a player before being gifted one by a random court ruling.
Best-case scenario from this eligibility chaos, the Sooners bring back someone like Damonic Williams or Marvin Jones Jr. from NFL training camp to join the defensive front. Even that’s possible now, with notifications popping up of former NFL players entering the NCAA transfer portal.
But even then, Williams and Jones steal back the spotlight from someone like Stone or Jackson on the interior, or Adepoju Adebawore or Danny Okoye on the edge, who have paid their dues. It also stunts development for a freshman like Jake Kreul, who’s primed for early playing time to eventually be the Sooners’ future pass rusher. Worst-case, those guys get frustrated and transfer, so then they’re gone when you need them most.
All of this eligibility chaos is a nightmare, but only if you partake in it.
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