Razorback NIL collective hires attorney Tom Mars to seek damages from freshman QB transfer

CBS Sports reported late Saturday night that the University of Arkansas’s NIL collective has hired Rogers-based attorney Tom Mars to collect damages from two Razorback transfers, including freshman quarterback Madden Iamaleava, who reportedly violated the terms of his contract with the collective when he entered the transfer portal this week before ever playing a snap for the Razorbacks. Mars confirmed to the Arkansas Times Sunday morning that he has been retained by the collective to enforce the terms of the players’ NIL agreements but declined to discuss the details any further.

Iamaleava reportedly signed a contract worth about $500,000 with Arkansas Edge, the sort-of-separate athlete compensation arm of Razorback sports. Shortly after the news of the transfer went public, Arkansas Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek raised eyebrows when he suggested he supports Arkansas Edge going after the money. Or, as Yurachek phrased it, their “pursuit to enforce their rights under any agreement.”

The hiring of Mars, an attorney who has earned a national reputation for his legal work in college sports, puts the Razorbacks in a situation that could break new ground across collegiate athletics.

Iamaleava, a California native who picked Arkansas in a surprising last-second switcheroo in December after previously committing to UCLA, is the younger brother of Nico Iamaleava, a star quarterback who led Tennessee to 10 wins last season and a spot in the College Football Playoff. Nico Iamaleava has been in the national spotlight in recent weeks after entering the transfer portal following a high-profile, NFL-style holdout over a contract dispute at Tennessee, where he was already set to reportedly earn $2.4 million in 2025. He committed to UCLA on April 20.

CBS Sports reported earlier this week that Madden Iamaleava informed Arkansas coaching staff members that he was homesick and wanted to enter the portal the day after his brother Nico signed with UCLA. It’s unclear if he had been in contact with UCLA before that. CBS Sports also reported that Arkansas Edge is seeking damages from former Razorback receiver Dazmin James.

There is a question as to whether the NIL contracts are enforceable and NIL compensation for student athletes is fairly new territory. Since 2021, when a U.S. Supreme Court ruling said college athletes could earn money for use of their name, image and likeness, collectives like Arkansas Edge have sprouted up around the country. So far, it seems unfulfilled NIL contracts have been treated as the cost of doing business in the world of college athletics, where players can transfer every year without penalty. Schools might be hesitant to publicly seek liquidated damages from players over concerns that it could have a negative impact on recruiting.

Contracts with Arkansas Edge typically include language requiring athletes to reimburse 50% of the money remaining on their deal if they depart for another school, according to a report from CBS Sports. Madden Iamaleava had about eight months remaining on his contract, and Arkansas Edge is asking for approximately $200,000 back from Iamaleava, the report said. 

It’s not fully clear who’s in charge of Arkansas Edge, which was launched by Las Vegas-based Blueprint Sports in 2023. Kevin Trainor, a senior associate athletics director in charge of public relations at the University of Arkansas, told the Arkansas Times on Friday that he didn’t have a recommendation for who to speak with at the organization.

“Arkansas Edge has some transition in leadership, so there is not an obvious point of contact to pass along at this time,” he said.

The Arkansas Edge website shows four profiles under the “Our Team” section, including Interim Executive Director Marcus Madlock. Madlock is the vice president of client partnerships at Blueprint Sports, a company that coordinates NIL with 70-plus collegiate partners, according to its website.

Madlock declined to comment on questions sent by the Arkansas Times on Friday “due to the sensitive nature of our ongoing discussions.”

Mars spoke with the Arkansas Times on Thursday before he was retained in this matter by Blueprint. In that interview, Mars said NIL contracts like the one between Arkansas Edge and Iamaleava have gotten more sophisticated and are now written similar to coaching contracts. If a player violates the terms of the contract, the situation meets the legal test for what is called “liquidated damages.” Those types of damages are enforceable by law, whereas penalties are not, Mars said.

These types of contract terms are similar to the ones commonly used for college head coaches, who often change jobs before a contract ends. If coaches jump ship to another school, a portion of their compensation typically must be paid back. Mars said Thursday that the contract of nearly every NCAA head coach has what is often referred to as a “reverse buyout” clause with similar language. When coaches leave a school for a job at another university, the new school typically absorbs the cost of the buyout. 

Still, he said some coaches have challenged the enforceability of those buyout clauses by claiming that they were actually a penalty, not liquidated damages.

“Every one of those few cases, the courts rejected those arguments, so there’s really no precedent for anyone to challenge the enforceability of those contracts,” he said. 

Player contracts should be just as enforceable, he said. 

There’s “really nothing that makes them novel just because it’s a college athlete,” Mars said.