Many might have seen this coming. The Miami Hurricanes are being sued by the University of Wisconsin over Xavier Lucas and how he was brought in by the school, according to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports.
Let’s start from the beginning. At the end of the regular season, the transfer portal is open for two weeks, and Lucas was still a Badger for UW. However, many reported that he wanted out, especially after his father had a life-changing health emergency in South Florida, where Lucas is originally from.
The former four-star recruit committed and played great football for Wisconsin, but like most, something life-changing like this would bring a player closer to his family. That is what the University of Miami was offering (along with a lucrative amount of money) to be back home, where he could play for the University and be close to home.
The issue is, UW never let Lucas enter his name into the portal, and here starts the problems and loopholes for all sides. Wisconsin and Lucas struck a two-year revenue-share agreement that, like all of them, was set to begin July 1. This has been a new thing for many NIL deals to slow down the number of transfers and opt-outs in the future. Thanks to this agreement, Wisconsin refused to enter Lucas’ name into the portal after he requested a transfer.
Lucas unenrolled from UW and enrolled academically at the University of Miami to bypass the transfer portal and every legal possibility that could possibly be avoided. That has come back to bite both Lucas and UM with this latest lawsuit.
“Miami interfered with UW-Madison’s relationship with Student-Athlete A (Lucas) by making impermissible contact with him and engaging in tampering,” the suit says.
Wisconsin also has the backing of the Big 10.
“We stand by our position that respecting and enforcing contractual obligations is essential to maintaining a level playing field,” the Big Ten said in a statement of support for the Badgers. “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.”
This lawsuit was waiting to happen. UW just needed the House settlement, the mechanism introducing athlete revenue sharing, to pass, which was done on June 6.
This is also an industry-changing suit that will likely make a change in how tampering is viewed in this new era of college sports. The Bagders are asking for compensation for the actions of the Hurricanes, and a massive headache for all parties.
Wisconsin is seeking unspecified financial damages and a declaratory judgment that deems UM’s actions as wrongful for interfering with a binding revenue-share contract. A positive for the Hurricanes is that Lucas is not being sued, just the University.
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