Ole Miss Suing Two Former Players Who Transferred To LSU

(KMDL-FM) The University of Mississippi, Ole Miss, has filed lawsuits against two former Rebel players who have since transferred to the LSU Football program. The court documents suggest that the two LSU athletes breached a binding revenue-sharing agreement when they left Oxford to join former Ole Miss Coach Lane Kiffin's LSU Tigers.

Ole Miss Seeking Almost $1 Million From Current LSU Players

The amount of money that Ole Miss is seeking to collect from the pair comes to $950,000, plus attorney fees and court costs. In court documents, the basis for the Ole Miss suit appears to be the signed contracts and the promise that the two athletes would return to Ole Miss.

A statement from Ole Miss indicates that the university is simply asking for reciprocal respect from student athletes that it signs to its athletic programs. The statement suggests that Ole Miss is committed to honoring all agreements with student athletes, and the University expects the athletes it signs to honor those agreements as well.

The players who are implicated in the Ole Miss court filings are Princewill Umanmielen and Devin Harper. Ole Miss is seeking $550,000 from Umanmielen and $400,000 from Harper. Umanmielen is a defensive end who totaled nine sacks and 13 tackles for loss in games with Ole Miss last season. He initially transferred to the Rebels from Nebraska.

Harper, an offensive lineman, made his presence known in six games for Ole Miss as a true freshman last season. He was highly recruited out of Calvary Baptist Academy in Shreveport, Louisiana.

According to Ole Miss, Umanmielen signed his deal with the Rebels on January 3rd and then entered the transfer portal on January 20th; he was signed by LSU on the following day. Harper reportedly signed his deal with the Rebels on January 6th. He entered the transfer portal on January 14th and was signed by LSU on January 16th.

LSU, for its part in the controversy, has declined to offer payment on behalf of the players, saying the university was not a party to the contract. LSU Athletics offered no new comments on the recent legal filing by the University of Mississippi.

LSU will meet Ole Miss on the football field, not the courtroom, on September 19th. That game will be played in Oxford, Mississippi, and as you would imagine, the game is already circled on the calendar as one of the "must-watch" games of the college football season.