LSU defensive end Princewill Umanmielen was served court documents in Ole Miss’s lawsuit against him and offensive lineman Devin Harper outside the LSU football facility yesterday.
The lawsuit seeking nearly $1 million from the athletes for breaking their Ole Miss revenue-sharing contracts was filed in July, and legal analyst Franz Borghardt says the timing is not a coincidence.
“This is absolutely psychological warfare by Ole Miss, and look: There’s no love lost between Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin; there’s not going to be any love lost between LSU and Ole Miss, so this is kind of par for the course,” Borghardt noted.
Umanmielen and Harper transferred to LSU after signing revenue-sharing deals to stay at Ole Miss this season, and the lawsuit says those agreements include penalties for breaking the contracts within a 90-day window. Borghardt says it will come down to what money has already exchanged hands.
“If they gave them money and those players breached the agreement, then there may be a valid legal claim. However, if they never gave them money, then I’m hard-pressed to see how they’re entitled to anything,” Borghardt explained.
Ole Miss officials previously stated the lawsuit intended to force LSU to pay the buyouts for the players like how professional teams often do, but LSU responded that it is not party to the broken contracts. Borghardt says it will take time before anything is resolved, but the lawsuit will not affect Umanmielen and Harper’s eligibility this weekend.
“These players are young men. So obviously, a million-dollar lawsuit is certainly going to be on their minds when they’re playing football. Does that make them play better or worse? That remains to be seen,” Borghardt said.
The Tigers and Rebels kick off at 6:30 in Oxford Saturday.
