ESPN's, Pete Thamel, is reporting that Darian Mensah and Duke have reached an agreement bringing an end to the dispute that began when he announced that he would be entering the transfer portal just about a month after saying that he would be returning to Duke.

Darian Mensah, a Tulane transfer, had signed a two year NIL deal with the Blue Devils after the 2024 season. The deal was estimated to be worth $7.5 million and made Darian Mensah one of the highest paid quarterbacks to come out of the transfer portal next to Carson Beck at Miami.

Mensah and the Blue Devils went on to have a 9-5 season, winning the ACC Championship Game with Darian Mensah being named MVP. They also beat Arizona State in the Sun Bowl with Darian Mensah being named MVP of that, as well.

That's when things got weird.

Initially it appeared that Darian Mensah was debating entering the NFL Draft based on feedback he was getting. After a brief period of time to stew over it, he announced he was returning to Duke.

Then, on January 16th just hours before the transfer portal entry window was about to close, he announced he would be transferring. Miami was the clear cut team to watch for him to go to, but then that's when things got even messier.

About a week ago, Duke filed a lawsuit against Mensah claiming that he had broken details of his contract and that it had done serious harm to Duke's program. It lead to days worth of back and forth legal reports that is just the latest example of college football having a problem with no guard rails to situations such as this.

Pete Thamel broke the news of the settlement, today, with a statement from Darian Mensah's representative agency, Young Money APAA Sports. 

"Through close collaboration and principled negotiation, we have successfully navigated an unprecedented path, one that has now reached a fair and mutually agreeable resolution," the statement read.

"With that foundation in place, we are pleased to announce that Darian Mensah, supported by our team of legal counsel and Young Money APAA Sports, has reached a settlement agreement with Duke University."

We somewhat avoid a messy situation in court between Duke and Mensah, but the damage has already been done. It'll also be interesting if the details of this settlement will ever see the light of day.

Miami is still the favorite to land Mensah and now Duke is scrambling to figure out what they will be next year after their team was literally built around Mensah. Top receiver, Cooper Barkate has already entered the portal and is likely to join Mensah.

Manny Diaz is left to pick up the pieces in Durham ahead of what was an extremely promising looking season for Duke.