$950,000 in alleged contract buyouts sits at the center of an active Ole Miss athletic department lawsuit against two current LSU players, and the legal dispute moved off the court docket and into a parking lot Tuesday. Princewill Umanmielen was served with papers outside LSU's football operations facility in Baton Rouge, making him the first of the two named defendants to receive process in a case that has shadowed the buildup to Saturday's LSU-Ole Miss matchup.
The contract claim
Ole Miss filed suit in July, alleging that Umanmielen and fellow transfer Devin Harper each signed revenue-sharing agreements with the school in January that carried explicit buyout clauses. Both players departed for the transfer portal after Ole Miss completed its College Football Playoff run, ultimately enrolling at LSU following head coach Lane Kiffin's own exit from Oxford. Ole Miss says the pair were contractually obligated to compensate the university before leaving. The combined buyout figure the school is pursuing: $950,000.
Buyout provisions of this type are sometimes absorbed by the receiving institution, but no such arrangement appears to have been reached here. Ole Miss said in its July statement that officials attempted to negotiate a settlement with both athletes in the months before filing suit. Those efforts did not produce a resolution.
The Tuesday serving came after LSU officials reportedly declined to facilitate contact between Ole Miss attorneys and the players, directing the attorneys to the athletes directly. Harper has not yet been served.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry responded on social media after Umanmielen received his papers, suggesting Ole Miss AD Keith Carter "could have saved Ole Miss some money and waited until Saturday" because Umanmielen "will be easy to find in the Ole Miss backfield often." The remark folded the legal proceedings directly into the on-field rivalry.
Ole Miss, in its July statement, said the university holds its student-athletes to "the same commitment" it extends to them, and that pursuing the buyout is "consistent with the actions of other institutions in the current landscape of college athletics."
Harper's papers remain unserved as of Tuesday. Saturday's kickoff is now the next fixed point on the calendar for both sides.