Former Nebraska football player Princewill Umanmielen might become the newest player to get the full force and effect of this new era in college sports. The defensive lineman is one of the best players who hit the Transfer Portal over the winter. That he hit the portal at all is at the heart of what could become a lawsuit from Ole Miss.
Rebels athletic director Keith Carter is reportedly considering launching a lawsuit against two former Ole Miss football players. Carter said the point of the legal action is the latest move in an effort to recoup buyout payments the players owe the school.
Ole Miss is weighing its legal options regarding buyouts owed by LSU football players Princewill Umanmielen and Devin Harper after both followed the program’s former head coach, Lane Kiffin, to Baton Rouge. Umanmielen is now at his third school after starting his college football career with Nebraska.
Ole Miss has made it clear that the lawsuit isn’t about any ill feelings toward the SEC rival school but it is all about the money.
Princewill Umanmielen could face Ole Miss lawsuit over transfer buyout
“Contracts are with the players. LSU could pay that on behalf of the players. So we’re kind of exploring all of that right now.”
Both Umanmielen and Harper reportedly still owe Ole Miss’ athletic department contractually-obligated buyouts. Both signed revenue-sharing agreements to remain in Oxford prior to eventually deciding to leave the school and follow Kiffin.
Either LSU or the players have yet to pay nearly $1 million in buyouts. Harper’s buyouts are said to be around $407,000, and the former Nebraska football star is apparently owing $590,000. Ole Miss won’t confirm the dollar amounts but did say that it’s not a small amount of money.
“I don’t really want to comment on that,” Carter told the Clarion Ledger. “It was significant. They were good players.”
Should it ultimately file suit, Ole Miss would join a growing list of athletic departments that have sought legal recourse to recover revenue-sharing buyout payments from transferred players. Cincinnati is still engaged in a $1 million lawsuit with former quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who transferred to Texas Tech in January before his gambling history was uncovered, leading to the NCAA issuing a permanent eligibility ban against him.
One Nebraska conference rival, Washington, threatened to sue quarterback Demond Williams when he was planning on transferring. The amount he would have to pay back seemed enough that he decided not to enter the portal.
These deals are all different from NIL deals because they were actually struck with the school and are seemingly more easily legally enforceable. It’s a situation that Nebraska has not had to deal with, but now it looks like the former Husker defender is at the center of this new era of college sports.
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