The case involving Darian Mensah's NIL contract with the Duke Blue Devils that he is trying to get out of and being sued for doing so could be a watershed moment in college football.
There aren’t many instances of schools suing players, but the Duke Blue Devils added themselves to that list when they sued quarterback Darian Mensah for attempting to breach his NIL deal and enter the transfer portal. As things stand, Mensah is currently permitted to enter the portal but cannot enroll elsewhere and play football for that team before an injunction hearing scheduled for Feb. 2, in which a North Carolina judge will rule on Duke’s request to prevent him from leaving. Mensah’s attorney, Darren Heitner, has shared on X that they are attempting to move up the hearing.
Regardless, as things stand, they are a mess for the state of college football, NIL, and the transfer portal. It was not a good look when Mensah reneged on his announced return three weeks prior and declared he was entering the portal on the final day of the window – leaving his school up creek without a paddle and a path to another starting quarterback. It’s an equally poor look to have a school sue a player to prevent them from transferring, even though it’s a move that needed to be done by the Blue Devils to try to change the ability to enforce contracts in college sports. Their recourse is unclear with the complete mess of language in these deals that won’t allow the obvious to be stated: that they are operating as pay-for-play deals. Will this be the case that changes it?
Here is the full story from Duke Roundtable writer Matthew Schmidt on the further complications of this mess that now involve Mensah’s educational future.
All reports indicate that if Mensah is granted a transfer, it will be to the Miami Hurricanes. While school being a factor in all of this is all but a farce, the final day to enroll in classes at the University of Miami is Wednesday. Now, an exception can be granted by the president, but at that point, is there a point in pretending like the rules can’t be bent for college sports? Moreover, is there a point in pretending like any rules or enforcements exist at all? Mensah signed a two-year deal he’s attempting to get out of, but it’s not an airtight contract that covers the entirety of his NIL, and it’s one that certainly implies performance-based pay with incentives for being named to an All-ACC team.
It all seems moot when it’s been ruled that schools can’t prevent players from transferring, and that pretty much all restrictions on the transfer portal have been ruled to be free market restrictions that violate the Sherman Act. However, it also makes it seem like contracts are moot, and that’s an irresponsible thing to be teaching young adults who may not understand the consequences of millions of dollars yet, but should certainly understand consequences of their actions.