LSU’s Princewill Umanmielen and Devin Harper never expected their first fight in the SEC to be off the field. Both signed revenue-sharing deals to stay at Ole Miss while Lane Kiffin was still coach. Weeks later, both followed Kiffin’s path to LSU. Now Ole Miss says they broke their contracts and wants a court to decide what those deals are worth.

As On3 reported, “Ole Miss has filed breach-of-contract lawsuits against former players and current LSU players Devin Harper and Princewill Umanmielen, the school announced.”

The lawsuits were filed Monday in the Circuit Court of Lafayette County in Oxford, Mississippi. On3’s Pete Nakos reported the combined total is close to $1 million. Ole Miss is seeking $550,000 from Umanmielen and $400,000 from Harper, along with attorneys’ fees and court costs. For now, LSU has declined to comment publicly on the lawsuits.

For Ole Miss, the stakes go beyond two names on a roster. The school is testing whether a player’s promise means anything when a coach leaves. Umanmielen signed a revenue-sharing agreement on Jan. 3 to stay in Oxford while Kiffin was still in charge. Seventeen days later, he entered the transfer portal. One day after that, he was on his way to LSU.

Harper’s timeline moved even faster. He signed his agreement on Jan. 6, entered the portal just eight days later and committed to LSU on Jan. 16. The deal reportedly came with a catch. Leave within 90 days, and a buyout kicked in, and Ole Miss says that’s what happened. The school sent payment requests to Harper on Jan. 16 and Umanmielen on Jan. 22 and waited. Thirty days passed, and according to the university, neither player paid nor responded.

Ole Miss also reached out to LSU. On March 18, LSU declined to cover the payments, saying it was not a party to the contracts. The university said in a statement that it had tried to settle the matter before filing suit.

“Before transferring to another institution, student-athletes Devin Harper and Princewill Umanmielen signed revenue-sharing agreements that included a provision requiring them to compensate the university with a predetermined amount if they departed before fulfilling their commitment,” the school said. “The University of Mississippi has a responsibility to enforce its contractual terms, and this position is consistent with the actions of other institutions in the current landscape of college athletics. The university attempted to amicably resolve this matter prior to filing.”

Ole Miss isn’t chasing the money alone. The bigger fight is over whether these new revenue-sharing deals actually mean anything once a player walks away. If the contracts don’t hold up, every school is going to notice.

Why this case could reach beyond Ole Miss

Revenue-sharing contracts are still new. Schools are paying athletes directly while trying to build legally enforceable agreements. Nobody really knows how strong those contracts are until someone challenges them. Ole Miss has now become one of the first programs willing to test that in court.

Princewill Umanmielen wasn’t easy to replace. He made a lot of plays. Nine sacks and 13 tackles for loss last season alone, after putting up 10.5 sacks and 20 tackles for loss across his time at Nebraska and Ole Miss. Harper was a different case. The former 4-star was still finding his feet, getting into six games as a true freshman. Then, like Umanmielen, he packed up and landed at LSU. 

They weren’t the only transfers to make that trip. LB TJ Dottery also left Oxford for Baton Rouge. But according to Ole Miss, only Harper and Umanmielen failed to satisfy the buyout terms written into their agreements. However this ends, schools will be watching closely. If Ole Miss wins, revenue-sharing contracts will become a lot more than paperwork. If it doesn’t, the transfer era may become even more unpredictable.