MADISON – The Xavier Lucas saga is far from over.

Yahoo Sports reported June 20 that the University of Wisconsin and its NIL collective, the Varsity Collective, are suing the University of Miami for what is termed tortious interference with the former Badgers cornerback who is now a part of the Miami Hurricanes football team.

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The Journal Sentinel obtained a copy of the 23-page complaint filed in Dane County Circuit Court on June 20. In the document Wisconsin provides a timeline for the NIL agreements it and the Varsity Collective reached with Lucas, offers details of how it alleges the Miami football program tampered with Lucas and allege a broader pattern of tampering in the Miami program with other student-athletes.

Wisconsin seeks damages for the financial and reputational harm it says it experienced, a declaration that Miami’s conduct with Lucas constituted tampering plus any other penalty the court deems proper.

“Now more than ever, it is imperative to protect the integrity and fundamental fairness of the game, including in connection with NIL contracts,” the complaint read. “Indeed, student-athletes’ newfound NIL rights will be rendered meaningless if third parties are allowed to induce student-athletes to abandon their contractual commitments.”

Xavier Lucas had a promising freshman season at Wisconsin

The case stems from Lucas’ controversial departure from the Badgers football program in December. The native of Pompano Beach, Florida, announced his intention to transfer Dec. 19.

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Losing Lucas was a blow to UW, which already had lost a handful of players from the secondary to the transfer portal. According to Pro Football Focus, Lucas played more snaps (203) than any freshman on the team last season. He played in all 12 games with one start and registered 18 tackles, one interception and one sack.

With the transfer portal scheduled to close Dec. 28, Lucas posted on X that the Wisconsin football program wrongfully declined to enter his name into the portal, a move that prevented other teams from contacting him without breaking NCAA rules.

In January, Lucas circumvented the transfer portal by withdrawing from Wisconsin and enrolling at Miami. He eventually joined Miami’s football team and participated in spring practice with the Hurricanes.

A few days after Lucas left UW, Wisconsin offered its side of the story. In a statement issued on Jan. 18, the university said it didn’t put Lucas’ name into the transfer portal because he signed a two-year NIL agreement Dec. 2 that it believed was still in effect and enforceable. The university also said Lucas entered into a separate agreement with Varsity Collective, which connects Badger athletes with NIL opportunities.

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Wisconsin also said in its January statement that it had credible information that indicated impermissible contact between Lucas and University of Miami personnel.

That information was detailed further in Wisconsin’s legal complaint.

Wisconsin outlines its allegations against Miami

The complaint provides more specific details of the allegations UW made against Miami in December, which include impermissible contact on multiple occasions with Lucas or his representatives. The complaint refers to Lucas as “Student-Athlete A” rather than using his name.

Among the allegations:

* A Miami coach and prominent alumnus visited Lucas at the Florida home of one of his relatives in December. UW says it received information about the in-home visit from a relative of Lucas on Dec. 18.

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* UW accused Miami of a broader culture of tampering, alleging that Miami went after a second player even though that player made a written commitment to another school, a commitment that was reflected in the transfer portal. The player wasn’t identified by name.

The University of Wisconsin, Big Ten issue statements

UW issued a statement. Here it is in its entirety.

“The University of Wisconsin-Madison remains committed to ensuring integrity and fundamental fairness in the evolving landscape of college athletics. After reviewing all facts and evaluating options, the university today filed a complaint in Wisconsin state court outlining our allegations against the University of Miami.

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“While we reluctantly bring this case, we stand by our position that respecting and enforcing contractual obligations is essential to maintaining a level playing field. In addition to our legal action, we will continue to be proactive to protect the interests of our student-athletes, our program and the broader collegiate athletics community. We appreciate the support of our university leadership and the Big Ten Conference. As we move forward, we will respect the court process and provide further updates only as appropriate.”

The Big  Ten Conference, which publically supported UW in January, continued to voice its support.

Here is the statement the league issued to Yahoo on June 20.

“We stand by our position that respecting and enforcing contractual obligations is essential to maintaining a level playing field,” the statement said. “In addition to our legal acton, we will continue to be proactive to protect the interests of our student-athletes, our program and the broader collegiate athletics community.”

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An email seeking comment from the University of Miami has not received a response.

This story was updated with new information.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin files lawsuit against Miami over Xavier Lucas’ departure

Miami Facing Groundbreaking NIL Lawsuit Over Alleged Player Tampering originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

The ever-evolving world of college athletics, particularly NIL, may have reached a legal tipping point. The University of Miami now finds itself at the center of a groundbreaking lawsuit filed by the University of Wisconsin and its NIL collective, focused on alleged tampering involving cornerback Xavier Lucas.

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According to a report from Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, the University of Wisconsin and its NIL collective filed a complaint in state circuit court, claiming “tortious interference” by Miami. The complaint alleges that the Hurricanes made impermissible contact with Lucas while he was still under contract with Wisconsin. This is believed to be the first legal action of its kind directly tied to NIL-era tampering.

At the heart of the case is Lucas, a South Florida native who signed a new contract with Wisconsin in December before transferring to Miami in January, without formally entering the NCAA transfer portal. The Badgers allege that Miami knowingly engaged with Lucas despite his existing agreement, which resulted in him breaching that deal and transferring.

“Miami interfered with UW-Madison’s relationship with Student-Athlete A by making impermissible contact with him and engaging in tampering,” the suit reads, with Wisconsin seeking “unspecified damages, transparency, and accountability.”

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Whether the courts agree remains to be seen. However, legal experts and college football insiders believe this case could set a precedent for how tampering is defined and enforced moving forward. For now, Lucas remains eligible to play for the Hurricanes this fall, where he’s expected to make an immediate impact on a secondary that allowed the sixth-most passing touchdowns per game in the ACC last season.

Lucas was 247Sports’ 20th overall player and first-ranked cornerback in the transfer portal this offseason. His addition was viewed as a major win for new Hurricanes defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman’s defense, and it now carries potentially significant off-field implications.

As the NIL era continues to evolve, Miami’s role in this case could shape how schools recruit, retain, and protect their athletes and navigate the legal lines surrounding NIL, player contracts, and tampering. The Hurricanes have not yet issued a public statement on the lawsuit.

Related: Rookie QB Cam Ward’s Surprising Trash Talk Highlights His Confidence at Titans OTAs

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 20, 2025, where it first appeared.

The University of Wisconsin and its NIL collective, VC Connect, filed a joint lawsuit on Friday against the University of Miami, alleging it knowingly induced one of the Badgers’ football players to abandon a lucrative name, image and likeness contract to play for the Hurricanes this upcoming season.

Allegations of tampering rarely get to this level, and the 23-page lawsuit, which was filed in state court in Wisconsin and obtained by The Associated Press, is unusual. Depending on its resolution, it could have a wider impact on future NIL deals across college athletics.

The player in question in the filing is referred to only as “Student-Athlete A.” But the case summary describes facts that line up with the situation involving cornerback Xavier Lucas, who last December announced his plans to enter the transfer portal.

Shortly afterward, Darren Heitner, who has been representing Lucas, indicated that Wisconsin was refusing to put Lucas’ name in the portal and that it was hindering his ability to talk with other schools. In January, Heitner announced that Lucas would be playing for Miami this fall.

The situation is fallout from the rapid changes engulfing college athletics, specifically a combination of two things: Athletes went to court and won the ability to transfer with much more freedom and the 2021 NCAA decision clearing the way for them to strike NIL endorsement deals now worth millions of dollars. That has changed the recruiting landscape and forced the issue of contracts and signed commitments to the fore.

“Indeed, student-athletes’ newfound NIL rights will be rendered meaningless if third parties are allowed to induce student-athletes to abandon their contractual commitments,” a portion of the lawsuit reads.

Wisconsin said in January that it had credible information that Miami and Lucas made impermissible contact with each other before the former Badgers cornerback decided to transfer.

Wisconsin and VC Connect allege that the inducement for Lucas to attend Miami happened within days of him entering his NIL agreement to play for the Badgers, and that they incurred substantial monetary and reputational harm. The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages and “a declaration that Miami’s conduct directed towards Student-Athlete A constituted tampering.”

A message left with the University of Miami seeking comment was not immediately returned. In a text message Friday, Heitner declined to comment on the lawsuit but he said that Lucas still plans to attend Miami and play football.

Wisconsin said it had the support of its leadership and the Big Ten Conference in filing the lawsuit, noting its commitment to “ensuring integrity and fundamental fairness in the evolving landscape of college athletics.”

“While we reluctantly bring this case, we stand by our position that respecting and enforcing contractual obligations is essential to maintaining a level playing field,” the statement said. “In addition to our legal action, we will continue to be proactive to protect the interests of our student-athletes, our program and the broader collegiate athletics community.

Lucas, who is from Pompano Beach, Florida, had 12 tackles, an interception and a sack as a freshman for Wisconsin last season.

Heitner said that Lucas hasn’t received any money from Wisconsin and therefore owes no money to the school. Heitner also argued that Wisconsin had violated an NCAA bylaw by not entering Lucas into the transfer database within two business days of the player’s request.

Wisconsin issued a statement at the time saying it hadn’t put Lucas’ name in the portal because he had entered a two-year binding NIL agreement.

In April, the surprise transfers of brothers Nico and Madden Iamaleava from Tennessee to UCLA prompted fresh questions about contracts and buyouts.

Nico Iamaleava, who led Tennessee to the College Football Playoff last season, walked away from a reported $2.4 million NIL contract. Arkansas freshman quarterback Madden Iamaleava entered the portal after spring practices wrapped up.

Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek released a statement indicating he would support efforts by the Razorbacks’ NIL collective to enforce buyout clauses in athlete contracts. Iamaleava reportedly had a contract valued at $500,000 upon signing with Arkansas.

In a landmark turn of events for college sports, the University of Wisconsin and its NIL collective have filed a tampering lawsuit against the University of Miami, Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports reported. The Big Ten has released a statement in support of the Badgers.

“The Big Ten Conference is aware of the litigation recently filed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison against the University of Miami and is supportive of UW-Madison’s position,” the conference’s statement read, via On3’s Pete Nakos. “As alleged, the University of Miami knowingly ignored contractual obligations and disregarded the principle of competitive equity that is fundamental to collegiate athletics.

“The Big Ten Conference believes that the University of Miami’s actions are irreconcilable with a sustainable college sports framework and is supportive of UW-Madison’s efforts to preserve.”

Wisconsin and the Big Ten are peeved at the Hurricanes for allegedly poaching defensive back Xavier Lucas from the Badgers. Dellenger called their lawsuit over tortious interference a “first-of-its-kind and, perhaps, a precedent-setting move.”

“Wisconsin is seeking unspecified damages, transparency and accountability from Miami for interfering with a binding revenue-share contract between Wisconsin and Xavier Lucas, a former defensive back who left the program in January to compete at Miami,” Dellenger added.

“It was a groundbreaking decision in which Lucas transferred without entering the portal (it had already closed) and after signing the contract with the Badgers.”

More on Xavier Lucas, Wisconsin-Miami Lawsuit

Back in January, Wisconsin released a statement on the matter, where they accused Miami of tampering, citing “credible information” and threatened to pursue legal action as a result of the situation. As you can see, they’ve taken that step.

“The lawsuit details what transpired in the winter among the three parties: Wisconsin, Miami and Lucas,” Dellenger added. “UW claims that Miami communicated with Lucas despite knowing he had entered a contract with the school, something it terms as ‘intentional’ interference that ‘was not justified or privileged’ and caused Lucas to ‘breach’ his contract.”

Additionally, the suit alleged that “Miami interfered with UW-Madison’s relationship with Student-Athlete A (Lucas) by making impermissible contact with him and engaging in tampering,” per Dellenger. 

It’s been reported that Wisconsin and Lucas agreed to a two-year revenue-share agreement that was set to begin July 1, Dellenger noted. That’s why Wisconsin refused to enter Lucas’ name into the portal when he requested a transfer, but he found a way around it, withdrawing from classes and enrolling academically at Miami in January

Whatever comes next is bound to set a precedent for college sports moving forward. Tampering has become a hot-button word since the advent of the transfer portal and NIL, but this is certainly a first-of-its-kind lawsuit.

Xavier Lucas totaled 18 tackles as a freshman at Wisconsin this past season. The defensive back also added two tackles for loss, a sack and an interception. We’ll see what he has in store for the future, but he’s certainly become an interesting case at the moment in the sport of college football as a whole.

OMAHA, Neb. — Though many athletic programs outside the power four conferences are expected to drop off competitively when scholarship limits are removed and revenue sharing begins July 1, College World Series finalist Coastal Carolina is committed to continue playing with the big boys in baseball.

Rosters will be capped at 34 in Division I baseball going forward, and first-year athletic director Chance Miller told The Associated Press all 34 at Coastal Carolina would receive full scholarships and be in line for direct rev-share payments. Miller said he also believes the Chanticleers’ opportunities for name, image and likeness earnings will compare favorably with those for power conference baseball teams within two years.

Baseball is Coastal Carolina’s flagship sport. The Chanticleers have played in 21 NCAA Tournaments since 1991, won the 2016 CWS for their first national championship in any sport, and they’ll take a 26-game win streak into the best-of-three finals against LSU starting Saturday night.

Coach Kevin Schnall said the athletic administration’s support “at the highest level” is a big reason the Chanticleers are back in Omaha.

“What I mean by that is they enabled us to hire an elite coaching staff that would rival any coaching staff in the entire country,” Schnall said. “They give us the resources to put our players in the best position to become the best players that they can be. And it’s an absolute team effort.”

Miller said the budget has been restructured to allocate more money for scholarships without asking for additional institutional support. He said a significant portion of the revenue sharing for 2025-26 comes from donors, including a “transformational gift” from one who wished to remain anonymous. A fundraising dinner in Omaha last week brought in $1 million, he said.

Coastal Carolina’s baseball players are earning about $200,000 combined in third-party NIL deals this year; retired coach Gary Gilmore noted, “LSU has that much in just one guy.”

Miller said NIL numbers for the next year will be inflated at a lot of power four schools. That’s because many NIL deals were paid up front rather than having payments spread out. Athletes and their agents wanted to avoid having to get those valued at $600-plus vetted by the NIL clearinghouse, as required after June 6 when the House settlement was approved.

“We talked to one of the collectives from a power four school I know very well, and right now they’re spending $2.5 million on the (baseball) team and next year they’re going to spend $3 million because they frontloaded a lot of NIL money from their collective,” Miller said. “The year after that, they’re going to drop down to $500,000. So that’s a drastic drop.”

Miller’s charge, like his predecessor’s, is to keep Coastal Carolina in the top tier of college baseball.

“The mentality of our program — all the way back to Coach Gilmore’s early days in the late 90s — was geared to reach Omaha,” said Matt Hogue, who retired as athletic director last year to become director of Coastal Carolina’s Center for Sports Broadcasting. “The way we financially invested, how we scheduled, infrastructure. We always viewed the CWS as the expectation, not a novelty.”

LSU coach Jay Johnson said if there’s one non-power conference baseball program able to keep competing for trips to Omaha in the new era of college athletics, it’s Coastal Carolina.

“Gonzaga basketball, Boise State football. The ones sustainable for decades, that’s who they are,” he said. “This is no surprise to me we’re playing them. As long as coach Schnall’s there, they’re not going anywhere for a long time.”

___

AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

The University of Wisconsin and its NIL collective, VC Connect, filed a joint lawsuit Friday against the University of Miami alleging the Atlantic Coast Conference program knowingly induced one of the Badgers’ football players to abandon a lucrative name, image and likeness contract to play for the Florida school this upcoming season.

Allegations of tampering rarely get to this level, and the 23-page lawsuit, which was filed in state court in Wisconsin and obtained by The Associated Press, is unusual. Depending on its resolution, it could have a a wider impact on future NIL deals across college athletics.

The player in question in the filing is referred to only as “Student-Athlete A,” but the case summary describes facts that line up with the situation involving cornerback Xavier Lucas, who last December announced his plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal.

Shortly afterward, Darren Heitner, an attorney who has been representing Lucas, indicated Big Ten Conference member Wisconsin was refusing to put Lucas’ name in the portal and that it was hindering his ability to talk with other schools. In January, Heitner announced that Lucas would be playing for Miami in the 2025 season.

The situation is fallout from the rapid changes engulfing college athletics, most notably changes to NCAA rules allowing student-athletes to strike NIL endorsement deals — some worth millions of dollars — and transfer with immediate eligibility in most cases. That has changed the recruiting landscape and forced the issue of contracts and signed commitments to the fore.

“Indeed, student-athletes’ newfound NIL rights will be rendered meaningless if third parties are allowed to induce student-athletes to abandon their contractual commitments,” a portion of the lawsuit reads.

Wisconsin said in January that it had credible information that Miami and Lucas made impermissible contact with each other before the former Badgers cornerback decided to transfer.

Wisconsin and VC Connect allege the inducement for Lucas to attend Miami happened within days of him entering his NIL agreement to play for the Badgers, and that they incurred substantial monetary and reputational harm. The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages and “a declaration that Miami’s conduct directed towards Student-Athlete A constituted tampering.”

A message left with the University of Miami seeking comment was not immediately returned. In a text message Friday, Heitner declined to comment on the lawsuit, but the attorney said Lucas still plans to attend Miami and play football.

Wisconsin said it had the support of its leadership and the Big Ten in filing the lawsuit, noting its commitment to “ensuring integrity and fundamental fairness in the evolving landscape of college athletics.”

“While we reluctantly bring this case, we stand by our position that respecting and enforcing contractual obligations is essential to maintaining a level playing field,” the statement read. “In addition to our legal action, we will continue to be proactive to protect the interests of our student-athletes, our program and the broader collegiate athletics community.

Lucas, who is from Pompano Beach, Florida, had 12 tackles, an interception and a sack as a freshman for Wisconsin last season.

Heitner said Lucas hasn’t received any money from Wisconsin and therefore owes no money to the school. Heitner also argued Wisconsin had violated an NCAA bylaw by not entering Lucas into the transfer database within two business days of the player’s request.

Wisconsin issued a statement at the time saying it hadn’t put Lucas’ name in the portal because he had entered a two-year binding NIL agreement.

In April, the surprise transfers of quarterback brothers Nico and Madden Iamaleava to UCLA prompted fresh questions about contracts and buyouts.

Nico, who led Tennessee to the College Football Playoff last season as a redshirt freshman, walked away from a reported $2.4 million NIL contract near the end of spring practices for the Volunteers. Madden, who was an early enrollee at Arkansas as a member of the team’s 2025 signing class, entered the portal after spring practices wrapped up for the Razorbacks.

At the time, Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek released a statement indicating he would support efforts by the Razorbacks’ NIL collective to enforce buyout clauses in athlete contracts. Iamaleava reportedly had a contract valued at $500,000 upon signing with Arkansas.