The increasingly insane world of college sports has come to this: A month before the 2026 football season will begin, Ole Miss has sued two of its former football players – Princewill Umanmielen and Devin Harper – for breach of contract.
Last season, Umanmielen and Harper helped Ole Miss to the most victories in school history. This season, they will play for the Rebels’ hated rival, LSU.
Umanmielen, a prized edge rusher, and Harper, a reserve offensive lineman, transferred to LSU in January after signing revenue sharing agreements with Ole Miss only a few days earlier.
Umanmielen reportedly signed his contract with Ole Miss on Jan. 3, Harper on Jan. 6. Keep in mind, Ole Miss had defeated Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 and would lose to Miami in the Fiesta Bowl and national semifinals on Jan. 8.
Despite signing the legal contracts, Harper entered the transfer portal on Jan. 14, followed by Umanmielen on Jan. 20. Harper signed with LSU on Jan. 16, Umanmielen on Jan. 21.
At LSU, Unmanielen and Harper will be joining former Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, who also tried to lure several other players, including superstars Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy, to LSU. LSU also successfully lured prized linebacker TJ Dottery away from Ole Miss, but Dottery had not signed a new contract with Ole Miss and thus owes Ole Miss no compensation.
The Ole Miss contracts of Umanmielen and Harper included buyout clauses if the players did not fulfill the terms. The buyouts total approximately $1 million, with Umanmielen’s by far the larger of the two. And that’s what Ole Miss is suing for.
LSU will play at Ole Miss on the night of Sept. 19, roughly six weeks away. As if this fierce, storied rivalry needed any further fanning of the flames, there you have it, a wildfire.
Harper, a 19-year-old sophomore from Shreveport, Louisiana, played sparingly as a freshman, last season but is considered a promising offensive lineman. Umanmielen, a 21-year-old senior from Austin, Texas, who began his career at Nebraska, led Ole Miss in quarterback sacks last season with nine. He is, as coaches say, a stud. Neither has commented publicly.
Indeed, the only comment thus far has come in a statement from Ole Miss last week.
“The University of Mississippi values its student-athletes and is committed to honoring all obligations made to them. In return, the university expects that same commitment from its student-athletes and their representatives in upholding their contracts,” the university said. “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 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 statement goes on to say Ole Miss attempted to amicably resolve the matter before filing suit.
Seems to this writer Ole Miss holds all the legal cards. Umanmielen and Harper signed legally binding contracts. They failed to meet their obligations. Should the case go to court, that would be the Circuit Court of Lafayette County, Mississippi. Talk about home field advantage. That’s a much bigger advantage than Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Sept. 19.
Keep in mind, Ole Miss and head coach Pete Golding still face possible sanctions because of the successful recruitment of linebacker Luke Ferrell, who had already begun attending classes at Clemson after transferring from California. After LSU signed Dottery, Ole Miss needed a linebacker. Ferrell fit the bill. In just three weeks’ time, Ferrell was part of three different football teams: Cal, Clemson and then Ole Miss. This kind of stuff is going on all over the country.
So, welcome to collegiate athletics, 2026-style, replete with multimillion dollar salaries, lawsuits, agents and much, much more. You may wonder what all this has to do with higher education, and I will tell you: nothing. Nothing at all.
Question: When is the last time you heard or read about a player being deemed academically ineligible? And you won’t. Good luck to the professor who flunks a so-called student-athlete the university is paying $5 million a year to play football.
This is professional sports without collective bargaining and without an effective commissioner. It really is insane. Teams no longer give it the old college try. No, they write checks and hire lawyers. It is sordid. It can’t continue.
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