NIL

Wisconsin & its NIL collective sue Miami; claim tampering, NIL inducements to poach player

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 […]

Published

3 weeks ago

June 21, 2025

Your Sports Nation

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.

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Kenny Dillingham, Deion Sanders among Big 12 coaches questioning NIL, player pay reforms

Kenny Dillingham said, “I just want to know the rules” when it comes to clarification about NIL deals and revenue sharing. (Photo by Truitt Robinson/Cronkite News) FRISCO, Texas – The state of college sports could calmly be described as the Wild, Wild West, a stage for an old-fashioned duel between programs and the NCAA, with […]

Published

12 minutes ago

July 11, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Kenny Dillingham said, “I just want to know the rules” when it comes to clarification about NIL deals and revenue sharing. (Photo by Truitt Robinson/Cronkite News)

FRISCO, Texas – The state of college sports could calmly be described as the Wild, Wild West, a stage for an old-fashioned duel between programs and the NCAA, with athletes standing somewhere in the middle.

Texas is a fitting setting for such showdowns.

Big 12 Media Days provided several opportunities for coaches in the conference to voice their displeasure with the current system and how players are paid like NFL stars. Even though power conference teams like those within the Big 12 do benefit in terms of securing more commitments from the best available players, they realize it’s an unjust and unfair system that could monopolize the sport indefinitely.

“We’re in the profession and we don’t even know the rules,” Cincinnati football coach Scott Satterfield said. “It’s difficult, and it’s ever-changing. There’s nothing that’s been stable, really, since 2020. Things have changed so much and so fast.”

Recruiting is among the biggest challenges. Though the NCAA reached a settlement in June that would give $2.8 billion for colleges to pay athletes, the NCAA is negotiating with House plaintiff lawyers to apply rules and repercussions to schools that attempt to avoid the cap in compensation packages offered to incoming players. Third-party NIL deals are being fully guaranteed, which would go against new revenue-sharing rules. Programs are also offering contracts that would be impossible to fit beneath the $20.8 million annual compensation cap.

Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham, who captured the Big 12 crown last season behind a slew of portal additions, is eager for a clear-cut direction for the sport so college football can return to what he believes are the values at its core.

“I just want to know the rules,” Dillingham said. “Tell us where the sandbox is and we’ll play in it. At the end of the day, this is a game. I know this is a business, I know this is a profession for everybody. But anybody who’s not in this to see a kid go from an 18-year-old kid to a 22-year-old man, and enter the real world, is in it for the wrong reasons.”

In a time when players can earn millions of dollars as freshmen or by entering the portal, the players a team retains for several years become the most crucial ones on the roster.

“In this new era where you have 105 kids on scholarship, it’s all about retaining the guys on your team,” Dillingham said. “If you constantly are looking for the next best thing to replace the guys on your team, then your own guys and your team should leave. Why wouldn’t they? If you’re not loyal to them, they shouldn’t be loyal to you.”

Colorado coach Deion Sanders said he wishes the new era of college football included a hard salary cap with a system to rank player salaries based on ability. (Photo by Truitt Robinson/Cronkite News)

The two-way street of loyalty and trust between players and coaching staff is occasionally the deciding factor for players being recruited with similarly hefty bags of cash. Coaches argue that it should return to the forefront of the recruiting process. That point is only emphasized by the fact that hundreds of submitted NIL deals hang in limbo while the College Sports Commission and NIL clearinghouse manage the fallout of the settlement.

Colorado coach Deion Sanders proposed a hard salary cap with a system to tier rank player salaries based on ability and overall performance.

“I wish there was a cap,” Sanders said. “The top-of-the-line guy player makes this, and if you’re not that type of guy, you know you’re not going to make that. That’s what the NFL does. The problem is you have a guy that’s not that darn good, but he could go to another school and they give him half a million dollars, and you can’t compete with that. It doesn’t make sense.”

Moments earlier, however, Sanders praised Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire for spending aggressively in the transfer portal. The Red Raiders flipped their team into a recruiting juggernaut almost overnight, spending upwards of $50 million on players, which was split into $30 million front-loaded and another $20.5 million courtesy of the revenue-share. Front-loaded contracts allowed school collectives to pay players before the enforcement of the settlement on July 1.

McGuire, whose Red Raiders figure to contend for the Big 12 title and a College Football Playoff selection this fall, said his aggression is just taking advantage of the current state of affairs, and more schools should do the same to compete with the annual contenders from the SEC and Big Ten.

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, entering his 21st season at the helm of the Utes, echoed Sanders’ sentiment about a salary cap. He acknowledged that players are moving toward becoming official employees, though the contracts they are now signing to get paid make them employees in every way but the official title. Whittingham remains unsure of the extent to which he supports employing college athletes.

“You say, ‘college football’s not the NFL,’ but the NFL has been doing some good things for a lot of years,” Whittingham said. “We ought to take some pages from them on how to implement a salary cap and collective bargaining if it comes to that. … As distasteful as it might sound to some people, I think an NFL minor league model is the best direction to hit.”

Until new policies can be enforced at every level of college football to ensure more parity and a fair state of play, the formula for winning national championships is printed on a blank check.

“All you have to do is look at the College Football Playoff and see what those teams spent,” Sanders said. “And you’ll understand darn well why they’re in the playoffs.”