This past season, Burns slashed .455/1.006/.540 this past season with 25 home runs and 72 RBI on her way to being named an NFCA First Team All-American, NFCA All-Great Lakes Region First Team member and All-Big Ten First Team member. Burns was also named to the Big Ten All-Freshmen Team and the NFCA All-Midwest Region Third Team in her freshman year.

This past season the rising junior ranked t-5^th in home runs (25), t-5^th in slugging percentage (1.006), 5^th in total bases (166), t-8^th in batting average (.455) and t-14^th in RBI (72). Her 25 home runs was not only a program record, but a Big Ten single-season record.

A native of Menifee, California, Burns was the 26^th best player in the country by D1Softball and the No. 6 ranked player in the portal according to Softball America.

 

MADISON (WKOW) — UW-Madison is taking legal action after a football player with star potential left the Badgers to play at the University of Miami over the winter. The case could have major implications for how the NCAA handles NIL deals and player transfers.

UW-Madison and VC Connect LLC have filed a lawsuit against the University of Miami, alleging the Hurricanes wrongfully interfered with Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) contracts. The complaint, filed on Friday, claims Miami induced Xavier Lucas to break his agreements and transfer.

Lucas had signed lucrative NIL contracts with UW-Madison and VC Connect for the 2025 season. However, Miami allegedly tampered with these agreements, causing him to leave Madison and enroll at Miami, violating NCAA anti-tampering rules.

The up and coming cornerback entered the transfer portal in December 2024. He was coming off a freshman season where he played 11 games, recording 18 tackles and grabbing an interception.

Lucas was a four-star prospect coming out of high school. He was born in Pompano Beach, Florida, about an hour north of Miami. 

The complaint outlines how Miami’s actions resulted in significant financial and reputational harm to the plaintiffs. It also highlights the broader implications for college athletics, emphasizing the need to protect contractual commitments amid the evolving NIL landscape.

Miami’s conduct reportedly included contacting Lucas and offering more lucrative financial terms, despite the player’s existing commitments. UW-Madison and VC Connect seek damages and a declaration that Miami’s actions constituted tampering.

The University of Miami has not yet responded to the allegations.

The University of Wisconsin and its name, image and likeness collective sued the University of Miami on Friday, alleging it interfered with what it said were binding NIL revenue-sharing contracts with former cornerback Xavier Lucas.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in Dane County (Wis.) Circuit Court, alleges Miami made “impermissible contacts with (Lucas) and his representatives this past December and January, leading to Lucas’ withdrawal from Wisconsin and enrollment at Miami.

“As a result of Miami’s actions, (Lucas) abruptly left UW-Madison’s football program and enrolled at Miami, causing plaintiffs to suffer substantial pecuniary and reputational harm,” the lawsuit states. The lawsuit, which Yahoo Sports first reported on, does not name Lucas but refers to him as “Student-Athlete A.”

The suit adds another layer to the power struggle between schools, conferences and athletes, as athletes sign NIL deals but abandon those contracts to enter the transfer portal.

The House v. NCAA settlement, which will allow schools to directly compensate athletes through revenue sharing for the first time, was approved June 6. For months, schools have signed players to revenue-sharing deals contingent on the settlement’s approval, with the intention it would eliminate tampering and slow player movement. The two-year revenue-share agreement Lucas signed shortly after the end of his freshman season in Madison was set to begin July 1, the first day schools can begin directly compensating athletes.

In January, Wisconsin released a statement accusing Miami of tampering, citing “credible information” and threatening to pursue legal action. The Big Ten backed Wisconsin in a statement Friday.

“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 said. “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 it.”

A Miami representative declined to comment on the report of Friday’s lawsuit because the school had not been served papers yet.

Wisconsin is seeking unspecified damages in the lawsuit, as well as “a declaration that Miami’s conduct directed towards (Lucas) constituted tampering.”

Lucas unenrolled from Wisconsin after school officials denied multiple requests from him and his attorney, Darren Heitner, to place his name in the transfer portal during the 20-day winter window (Dec. 9-28). Wisconsin maintains it told Lucas and his mother it would not put his name into the portal because of the two-year NIL contract he signed in December.

In the lawsuit filed Friday, Wisconsin alleges Miami’s “wrongful conduct” led to Lucas’ reaching out to a Wisconsin assistant coach on the evening of Dec. 17 — two days after returning home to South Florida for winter break — and asking to be placed in the transfer portal.

A day later, Lucas “offered a personal, family-related reason for wanting to enter the transfer portal” in a text message. Three days later, however, a relative of Lucas’ contacted a Wisconsin coach and provided information “inconsistent with his family-related rationale for seeking to transfer,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit alleges Lucas told his position coach before heading home for winter break that he had been contacted by other schools to enter the portal but “reaffirmed that he was committed to UW-Madison.”

Wisconsin said it obtained information indicating that Miami had impermissible contact with Lucas and his representatives on multiple occasions in December and January, including sending a coach and “prominent Miami alumnus” to Lucas’ South Florida home; and offering him a “more lucrative” compensation package than the one Wisconsin was paying him.

Lucas enrolled in classes at Miami in January and participated in the Hurricanes’ spring football practice in March and April. The sophomore, who had 18 tackles as a freshman, is expected to be one of Miami’s best defensive players this fall.

The NCAA said in January that its rules “could not prevent a student-athlete from unenrolling from an institution, enrolling at a new institution and competing immediately.” Wisconsin, though, was not punished for keeping Lucas’ name out of the portal.

“Enforcement is shaky — schools can block portal entry, even if it is against NCAA rules, as seen with Lucas,” Heitner told The Athletic earlier this month. “Wisconsin appears to have escaped punishment, at least for the time being, despite the clear rules violation.”

Wisconsin’s lawsuit also alleges Miami’s conduct toward Lucas was not an isolated event but part of a broader pattern of Miami’s tampering with student-athletes.

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

— The Athletic’s Chris Vannini contributed to this report.

(Photo: John Fisher / Getty Images)

Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — LSU and Coastal Carolina have met only two times previously as they enter the College World Series finals Saturday night. Those games back in 2016 have not been forgotten.

Coastal Carolina swept the Tigers on their home field in super regionals on the way to their first national championship. The Chanticleers’ opponent in the CWS finals that year was Arizona. Jay Johnson, now at LSU, was Arizona’s coach.

Tigers outfielder Jake Brown was 11 years old and living in Sulphur, Louisiana, at the time, and he recalled Friday how the players on that LSU team were superheroes to him.

“A little bit of heartbreak,” he said Friday. “That was a great team, a team I think could have made a good run in the championship. Obviously, things didn’t go our way that time. Looking forward to turning it around and making something good happen for us this time.”

LSU (51-15) will be playing for its eighth national championship and second in three years. Coastal Carolina (56-11), which brings a 26-game win streak into the best-of-three series, is going for its second title in its second all-time CWS appearance.

“That would put Coastal Carolina baseball on a different planet,” Chanticleers coach Kevin Schnall said.

Cameron Flukey (8-1), who pitched four innings of relief against Arizona on June 13, will start for Coastal Carolina. Johnson has not named his starter. Ace Kade Anderson (11-1), who limited Arkansas to three hits and struck out seven in seven innings on June 14, is available.

The Tigers and Chanticleers each went 3-0 in bracket play. LSU had to beat SEC rival Arkansas twice, winning the bracket final 6-5 in walk-off fashion after a wild three-run ninth inning.

LSU’s Brown is 4 for 6 with four RBIs in three CWS games and Jared Jones is 5 for 9 with two homers and six RBIs in the last two games after striking out five times in the opener against Arkansas. Tigers pitchers have walked just four in 27 innings.

“I think if you’re at this point in the NCAA tournament, you’ve been battle-tested,” Johnson said. “I don’t believe there’s anything we have not seen. … I feel like we’re well-trained and well-prepared for, in my opinion, probably the best team that we’ve played this year in Coastal.”

The Chanticleers are yet to hit a home run at Charles Schwab Field. Colby Thorndyke has two bases-clearing doubles and is 5 for 12 with eight RBIs. Dean Mihos is 5 for 12 with a double and triple. Their pitchers have walked four in 25 innings.

Johnson, in his fourth year at LSU after six at Arizona, said his heart still aches for his 2016 Wildcats team. Arizona erased a 4-0 deficit against the Chanticleers in the third and final game of the CWS finals and stranded a runner at third base in the bottom of the ninth inning.

“We were one base hit away,” Johnson said, “and it took a couple of years to get past that. I think what I do remember about all of that is it has really helped me the next three times that we’ve been here in terms of knowing how to prepare for this.”

Scoring first is key

Fast starts are a distinguishing feature of Coastal Carolina’s offense. The Chanticleers have outscored their three CWS opponents by a combined 11-0 in the first inning and are a Division I-best 37-2 when they score first. LSU is 32-7 when it opens the scoring.

5 is magic number

LSU has won 16 straight CWS games when scoring at least five runs since losing 9-5 to Miami in 2004.

High expectations

Coastal Carolina’s Schnall makes it a point to remind the media that the Chanticleers are a national power, but that doesn’t mean in February he expected the 2025 team to play for a national championship.

“We were picked fourth in the Sun Belt,” he said. “No problem. We’ll move forward, keep our head down and keep grinding. That’s what this team did. But we clearly felt like this pitching staff was going to be the best pitching staff we ever had.”

The Chanticleers were 19-8 on March 29 and are 37-3 since.

Hit by pitch leaders

Coastal Carolina leads the country with a program record 176 hit-by-pitches this season, breaking UC Irvine’s single season-record 175 in 2024. The Chanticleers have been plunked six times in three CWS games.

“They don’t eat if they get out of the way,” Schnall said, drawing laughs. “No, it’s just something that our guys have bought into. Our guys are obsessed with getting on base. They understand the way you score runs is having guys on base. And any way you can get on base helps our team win.”

Line of the day

LSU’s Brown drew laughs at Friday’s news conference when he explained the straightforward and simple way Johnson prepares him and his teammates to play.

“We came here to play baseball,” he said. “We’re not really scholars.”

___

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

The University of Wisconsin filed a lawsuit Friday claiming Miami’s football team broke the law by tampering with a Badgers player, a first-of-its-kind legal attempt to enforce the terms of a financial contract between a football player and his school.

The lawsuit refers to the athlete in question as “Student Athlete A,” but details from the complaint line up with the offseason transfer of freshman defensive back Xavier Lucas. Lucas left Wisconsin and enrolled at Miami in January after saying the Badgers staff refused to enter his name in the transfer portal last December.

In the complaint filed Friday, Wisconsin claims that a Miami staff member and a prominent alumnus met with Lucas and his family at a relative’s home in Florida and offered him money to transfer shortly after Lucas signed a two-year contract last December. The lawsuit states that Miami committed tortious interference by knowingly compelling a player to break the terms of his deal with the Badgers.

“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 school said in a statement provided to ESPN on Friday.

According to the complaint, Wisconsin decided to file suit in hopes that “during this watershed time for college athletics, this case will advance the overall integrity of the game by holding programs legally accountable when they wrongfully interfere with contractual commitments.”

Representatives from the University of Miami did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The pending case promises to be an interesting test of whether schools can use name, image and likeness (NIL) deals to keep athletes from transferring even though the players aren’t technically employees. Starting July 1, schools will begin paying their athletes directly via NIL deals.

The contracts between Wisconsin and their athletes give the school the nonexclusive rights to use a player’s NIL in promotions. Part of the deal, according to the lawsuit, prohibits an athlete from making any commitments to enroll or play sports at other schools. The lawsuit says Wisconsin had a reasonable expectation that Lucas would “continue to participate as a member of its football program” until the deal ended.

However, according to several contracts between Big Ten schools and their players that ESPN has previously reviewed, these deals explicitly state that athletes are not being paid to play football for the university. Since the school is technically paying only to use the player’s NIL rights, it’s not clear if a judge will consider it fair to enforce a part of the contract that dictates where the player attends school.

The Big Ten said in a statement Friday that it supports Wisconsin’s decision to file the lawsuit and that Miami’s alleged actions “are irreconcilable with a sustainable college sports framework.”

Darren Heitner, a Florida-based attorney who represents Xavier Lucas, told ESPN that Wisconsin did not file any legal claims against Lucas and declined to comment further.