A recent lawsuit by the University of Wisconsin claims that the University of Miami has committed tortious interference in Wisconsin’s football recruiting process, allegedly luring an as-of-yet unnamed Wisconsin player to Miami, breaking a pre-existing contract between the player and the Wisconsin football team, causing economic harm to the Midwest university1. In the rapidly changing collegiate athletics landscape, the lawsuit raises questions over just how much flexibility student-athletes will have, as well as the degree of economic equality that will be found between schools in the wake of the House Settlement.
While the lawsuit only refers to the player in question as “Student Athlete A,” the complaint’s timeline lines up with Xavier Lucas, a former Wisconsin cornerback who recently departed for Miami. According to Wisconsin, representatives of Miami met with Lucas and his family, offering him money to transfer to Miami. However, Lucas had just signed a two-year contract with Wisconsin, and, although he had requested to enter the transfer portal, at least according to Wisconsin, was not yet in it. Although Lucas’s deal was related solely to his NIL opportunities while at Wisconsin, it included a clause that prohibited the cornerback from enrolling at another school. As such, Wisconsin claims that when Miami offered Lucas money in exchange for transferring to Miami, they knowingly interfered with–and convinced a student to break–a pre-existing legal agreement.
Furthermore, Wisconsin is also arguing tortious interference based on its claim that Lucas was not yet in the transfer portal when he was approached. Although Lucas requested to enter it, Wisconsin alleges that they had not yet enrolled the defensive back into the portal by the time Miami visited him2. The fact that Lucas was approached by Miami when he was not yet in college football’s own version of free agency may lend credence to Wisconsin’s argument that Miami knowingly interfered with a player who had existing legal commitments to another school.
With the courts opening the doors for more student-athlete rights and liberties in college sports, it’s possible that Wisconsin’s claim may be struck down, opening the door for even shorter playing commitments than those that already exist in college sports. Alternatively, a decision in favor of Wisconsin may symbolize a small degree of power returning to the schools, a decision that could be beneficial to smaller schools with a lower recruiting budget. Likely, the Lucas case is just the first of many.
Henry Bartholomew is a guest author who periodically contributes to the UB Law Sports & Entertainment Forum. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University at Buffalo School of Law or the UB Center for the Advancement of Sport.
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