University of College / Shutterstock.com
Ole Miss isn’t messing around when it comes to players who broke their commitments this offseason. The school has filed breach of contract lawsuits against two former players who packed up and followed ex-coach Lane Kiffin to LSU this offseason.
Linebacker Princewill Umanmielen and offensive lineman Devin Harper are the two names on the suit, filed this week in Lafayette County Circuit Court. Ole Miss claims both players violated their revenue-sharing contracts with the school when they left for Baton Rouge.
The dollar amounts are significant. Ole Miss wants $550,000 from Umanmielen and $400,000 from Harper, and that’s before attorney fees and court costs get added to the tab. The university brought in a legal team from Mayo Mallette PLLC in Oxford, Cal Mayo Jr., Paul Watkins Jr. and Kate Embry, to handle the case.
The school didn’t hold back in its statement either.
“The University of Mississippi values its student-athletes and is committed to honoring all obligations made to them,” the university said in a statement provided to ESPN this week. “In return, the university expects that same commitment from its student-athletes and their representatives in upholding their contracts. Before transferring to another institution, student-athletes Devin Harper and Princewill Umanmielen signed revenue sharing agreements that included a provision requiring them to compensate the university with a predetermined amount if they departed before fulfilling their commitment.”
The statement continued: “The University of Mississippi has a responsibility to enforce its contractual terms, and this position is consistent with the actions of other institutions in the current landscape of college athletics. The university attempted to amicably resolve this matter prior to filing.”
Here’s where it gets interesting. Both contracts reportedly included penalties tied to breaking NIL (name, image and likeness) commitments within a 90-day window. Ole Miss says Umanmielen re-signed with the Rebels on Jan. 3; Harper wrapped up his deal just three days after that.
Once both players signed with LSU, Ole Miss came calling for payment. Neither responded within the 30-day window the school gave them, according to ESPN’s reporting. The Rebels tried again on July 27, hoping to settle things before heading to court. That attempt didn’t work either.
LSU, for what it’s worth, landed the No. 1 transfer portal class this cycle, and four of those additions came directly from Ole Miss’s roster.
Lawsuits are becoming the new normal in the portal era
This isn’t an isolated incident.
Programs across the country are getting a lot more comfortable suing former players over contract disputes. Most of these cases boil down to the same question: did the player receive money for future services, promotional work or roster participation they never actually delivered on? Schools are now pursuing repayment, damages and legal fees, turning what used to be a simple transfer decision into something that could end up costing players real money in court.
Duke went down this road back in January, filing suit against quarterback Darian Mensah. The Blue Devils argued that one of the ACC’s top signal callers broke his contract by trying to enter the portal just hours before the NCAA’s Jan. 16 deadline.
Washington almost went the same route. The Huskies reportedly planned legal action against quarterback Demond Williams before he had a change of heart and decided to stay in Seattle, which avoided what could’ve been a messy legal fight.
Georgia’s case against former Missouri edge rusher Damon Wilson II followed a similar pattern, though it played out differently. The Bulldogs claimed Wilson owed them $390,000 in liquidated damages for leaving the program. Wilson didn’t take that quietly; he fired back in December, arguing Georgia was illegally punishing him for transferring. He’d spent one season at Missouri, racked up nine sacks, and ultimately signed with Miami in January.
Whether Ole Miss’s case against Umanmielen and Harper ends in a settlement or drags into a full courtroom battle remains to be seen. But one thing’s becoming clear across college football: revenue-sharing contracts now come with legal teeth, and schools are increasingly willing to use them.
