By KACE KIESCHNICK, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
LSU defensive end Princewill Umanmielen’s service of court papers from Ole Miss lawyers on Tuesday regarding Ole Miss’ lawsuit against him and LSU offensive lineman Devin Harper did not just happen the week of the LSU-Ole Miss game by coincidence, according to one Baton Rouge legal analyst.
Franz Borghardt, the owner and founder of the Borghardt Law Firm in Baton Rouge, told Tiger Rag on Wednesday that it will take a while before the lawsuit filed by Ole Miss in July will be resolved.
“The timing of these productions, the timing of this lawsuit, candidly, is what raises eyebrows,” Borghardt said. “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.”
No. 7 LSU and No. 8 Ole Miss kick off in Vaught-Hemingway stadium at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday in Oxford, Mississippi.
Ole Miss filed the lawsuits against Umanmielen and Harper in the Lafayette County circuit court in Oxford on July 27. The university is seeking $550,000 from Umanmielen and $400,000 from Harper after the pair each signed revenue-sharing contracts with the Rebels in January before transferring to LSU before the end of the month.
The lawsuit states that both contracts included penalties for breaking the deal within 90-days of signing, and Ole Miss is now pursuing a buyout of the agreements.
“If they gave them money and those players breached the agreement, then there may be a valid legal claim,” Borghardt said. “However, if they never gave them money, then I’m hard-pressed to see how they’re entitled to anything.”
Borghardt said determining how much the athletes owe will come down to the specific verbiage of the contract and a complicated calculation of what payments have already been made, damages caused by the athletes’ breach of contract and even earnings they helped generate while at Ole Miss.
“Did (Ole Miss) lose $1 million? Did these players get $1 million? How much money was actually given? How do you calculate the amount of loss and damages?” Borghardt said.
Ole Miss officials initially reported that the lawsuits were intended to force LSU to pay the contract buyouts on behalf of its players. According to a timeline provided to various news outlets in July, Ole Miss requested the buyouts from Umanmielen and Harper after they signed with LSU, but neither student-athlete responded within the 30-day window.
Ole Miss then requested the payment from LSU, but the university argued that, since it was not a party involved in the initial contract, it is not liable for any payments. Borghardt said that the lawsuit explores uncharted legal territory.
“We don’t have a sea of jurisprudence on these transfers and the revenue-sharing model in college athletics because it’s relatively young,” he said. “We do have contract law in Mississippi, and that contract law will probably be what the court looks at.”
Borghardt said that while it will likely take time for the lawsuit to play out, the litigation should not block Umanmielen or Harper from playing on Saturday.
“This should have no bearing on their eligibility or playing with this coming football game,” he said. “But obviously these players are young men, so a million-dollar lawsuit (combined) is going to be on their minds when they’re playing football. Does that make them play better or worse? That remains to be seen.”
Umanmielen is the nation’s sack leader with five through two games. His seven tackles for loss are also tied for the most in the country, and he has recorded 11 total tackles. Harper has played 23 snaps this season.
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