Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey called NCAA language covering tampering rules “archaic,” but stopped short of urging the oversight body to halt tampering investigations, the way the Big Ten did earlier this week.
Speaking to reporters Saturday at the SEC basketball tournament in Nashville, Tennessee, the commissioner said the new landscape in college sports, which includes name-image-likeness payments to players, shifting and liberal transfer rules along with the increased influence of agents, calls for the language surrounding the rules to be changed.
“We need clarity," Sankey said. "Secondly, we need understanding on the part of policymakers of what's actually happening. How's this game being played? That doesn't mean the NCAA should just stop. 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.”
Though nothing new to college sports, tampering hit the headlines last month when Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney accused Mississippi coach Pete Golding of tampering with transfer-portal signee Luke Ferrelli, a linebacker who first left Cal for Clemson, the re-entered the portal and signed with Mississippi.
The NCAA followed with a memo — the one Sankey speaks of — announcing it would “pursue significant penalties” for tampering violations.
While the Big Ten sent a letter to the NCAA asking for a halt of the tampering rules, the commissioners of the Atlantic Coast and Big 12 conferences both said they were opposed.
Sankey placed himself in that category, but said school leaders meeting with NCAA President Charlie Baker this week pressed for quick changes.
“They need a quick policy reset and they need to announce that with clarity,” Sankey said.
AP Sports Writer Teresa M. Walker in Tennessee contributed to this report.
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Commissioner of the Southeastern Conference Greg Sankey speaks during a roundtable discussion on college sports in the East Room of the White House, Friday, March 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 14, 2026--
Liquid Networx, an expert cybersecurity and managed services provider, announced today that it was named Fortinet’s first Engage Preferred Services Partner (EPSP) Partner of the Year in North America and Unified SASE Partner of the Year for the third year in a row. Liquid is the first partner to be awarded two designations in one year. The Fortinet Partner of the Year Awards recognize dedicated and distinguished partners and distributors around the world. Fortinet’s channel partners play a critical role in helping Fortinet delight customers and secure users, devices, applications, and edges everywhere.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260313587145/en/
The Unified SASE Partner of the Year award demonstrates that Liquid Networx has fully maximized the business opportunity with Fortinet Unified SASE to secure the hybrid workforce, enabling the convergence of networking and security for their customer base.
The EPSP Partner of the Year has demonstrated exceptional service delivery as part of Fortinet’s exclusive EPSP program. As part of this program Liquid Networx has met rigorous accreditation standards, strengthened customer relationships through expert deployment and support, while driving recurring revenue through high-quality security consulting and collaborative service engagements.
“It is a privilege to be a part of such an amazing team of experts and only possible because of the support and shared commitment from Fortinet to lead with integrity, curiosity and a commitment to excellence for our mutual customers,” says Robert Short, Vice President, Liquid Networx.
About Liquid Networx: Liquid Networx is a trusted advisor of strategic cybersecurity services and a telecommunications lifecycle management organization headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. They have decades of technical expertise & experience in infrastructure technology, zero-trust, co-managed environments, remediating outages in addition to delivering telecom lifecycle management solutions such as audits, design, compliance, help desk, disaster recovery, and much more. Liquid Networx supports medium to multi-location enterprises in all verticals nationally and internationally.
3rd Year in a Row
First N. American Partner Ever
