The Wisconsin vs. Xavier Lucas saga took a significant turn on Friday night as Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger reported that Lucas is leaving for Miami without officially entering the transfer portal.
Quickly, here is a recap of events:
- Early December: Lucas reportedly signs a deal with Wisconsin’s collective that ‘binds’ him to the school, giving it non-exclusive rights to market his name, image and likeness
- Dec. 19: Lucas announces his intention to enter the portal
- Dec. 27: Lucas states publicly that Wisconsin is ‘refusing to release’ him to the portal
- Dec. 28: The winter transfer window closes. Lucas has still yet to be officially entered
- Jan. 7: Lucas hires a Florida-based attorney, who quickly threatens legal action against Wisconsin
- Jan. 17: Lucas reportedly commits to Miami despite never officially entering the transfer portal
A few things are clear. First, this is not the last we will hear of this ongoing situation. Dellenger’s report reads that Lucas ‘breaking the agreement could trigger litigation from Wisconsin onto Lucas and/or Miami.’ That agreement, to be clear, is between Lucas and Wisconsin’s collective — not with the school itself.
Second, the result of whatever litigation that follows will likely craft the future of the sport. Lucas is the first player to test college football’s loosely-defined NIL and transfer structure. His case will be used as precedent for any future cases and disputes that follow.
Regardless of how this situation affects Wisconsin on the field in 2025 and beyond, and how everybody got to this point, it’s clear that one prominent party is the most at fault. That isn’t Wisconsin, it isn’t Luke Fickell and it isn’t Xavier Lucas. It’s the NCAA.
Whether it was Lucas this offseason or another player in the near future, the current unregulated NIL structure, which is paid by third parties and not by the schools themselves, is unsustainable. So is the NCAA creating transfer portal windows and guidelines…
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