Ole Miss is taking two former players to court, charging they breached their contracts when they followed former head coach Lane Kiffin to LSU.
On Tuesday, Ole Miss filed lawsuits against Princewill Umanmielen and Devin Harper, who transferred to LSU in the offseason. In the lawsuits, filed in Mississippi Circuit Court in Lafayette County, Ole Miss contends the players are required to pay termination fees for walking away from their commitment to revenue-sharing contracts they signed.
According to the lawsuit, Umanmielen and Harper signed the agreements in January. Included in the document was a stipulation that the players would pay the termination fee if they left the university within 90 days of the date of execution of the contract. Per the lawsuit, that comes to $550,000 for Umanmielen and $400,000 for Harper.
In a recent interview with the Clarion Ledger in Mississippi, athletic director Keith Carter hinted the matter would need to be settled in the courts if either the players or LSU didn’t settle the account.
“Having signed a brand-new rev share contract basically a week or two before wanting to leave, those are the kind (of situations) that put you in a bind, especially there in the portal cycle,” Carter said. “Those two we’re going to continue to figure out how to collect. We feel like based on the contract we deserve to collect.”
Umanmielen, an edge rusher, entered the transfer portal on Jan. 15 and committed to LSU a week later. Harper, an offensive lineman, committed to LSU on Jan. 16, four days after putting his name in the portal, per the 247Sports timeline for each player.
Last November, as Ole Miss was preparing to head to its first College Football Playoff, Kiffin was courted by both Florida and LSU to fill their head coaching vacancies. He chose the Tigers and signed a seven-year, $91 million deal that runs through Dec. 31, 2032.
Umanmielen transferred from Nebraska to Ole Miss ahead of the 2025 season, leading the Rebels in sacks (nine) and tackles for loss (13) along with 44 tackles, 13 quarterback hurries and one interception.
Harper was a four-star recruit in the 2025 class, appearing in six games as a true freshman for Ole Miss.
