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.”

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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.

As Softball America grows its coverage at all levels, we continue our recruiting spotlight series with Lyla Morici, a pitcher and first baseman from Georgia. The two-way player provides on offense with an excellent on-base percentage and excels on the mound with her drop and rise ball.

Name: Lyla Morici
Primary Position(s): P/1B
Class Year: 2027
Hometown: Marietta, Georgia
Travel Ball Organization: Mojo Ramsey/Fisher

What is your favorite travel ball memory?

Playing in Colorado with all of my friends and seeing all the beautiful mountains in the background.

What’s the most important thing you’ve learned from a coach?

That you can only control yourself, your attitude and effort.

How did you get interested in softball? 

My parents grew up playing baseball and softball, and I tried many different sports, but ultimately fell in love with the game.

What are your strengths as a player? What are you trying to improve on the most? 

I have a good work ethic and always want to be my best. I am trying to improve on pin pointing spots when pitching.

What player(s) do you look up to the most? 

I look up to Rachel Garcia because she was a pitcher and a hitter in college.

What are your favorite hobbies outside of softball? 

I like hanging out with my friends and shopping.

What excites you the most about playing college softball?

To be surrounded by an environment of people who love the game and have an amazing softball family.

For more transfer portal news, stay up to date with the Softball America transfer wire and the Dugout, our discussion board for members.

More from Softball America:

2027 Position Recruiting Rankings
Teagan Kavan’s historic WCWS performance leads Texas to first national championship
Softball America Top 100 Players of the 2025 season

Cody Campbell, co-CEO of Double Eagle Energy, has pledged a remarkable $1 million to enhance the Texas Tech softball program. This generous donation aims to significantly upgrade facilities, reinforcing the Campbell family’s strong ties to the Red Raiders. Additionally, Campbell plays an active role in The Matador Club, Texas Tech’s NIL collective, promoting opportunities for student-athletes since its inception in February 2022.

By the Numbers

• $1 million donation from Cody Campbell to Texas Tech softball.
• Campbell has been involved with The Matador Club since February 2022.

Yes, But

While the donation is transformative, questions remain about the long-term sustainability of the program and how effectively these funds will translate into concrete improvements for athletes.

State of Play

• The Texas Tech softball program is poised for major enhancements due to the donation.
• The Matador Club has gained traction in supporting athlete empowerment through NIL opportunities.

What’s Next

Future developments include the rollout of upgraded facilities and programs, alongside increased efforts to attract talent to Texas Tech through enhanced NIL support.

Bottom Line

This historic gift not only uplifts the Texas Tech softball program but also sets a new standard for supporting collegiate athletics through strong community and alumni engagement.