Paul Akere
If Damon Wilson faces off against Brendan Sorsby this fall, it’s safe to bet that Wilson will do everything in his power to sack one of College Football’s top quarterbacks.1But off the field, they are taking on a similar battle and may even look to each other for best practices. Wilson grabbed headlines in December of 2025 when the University of Georgia Athletic Department filed a lawsuit claiming that he owed $390,000 in liquidated damages for leaving the team.2 This lawsuit was a first of its kind for the Name, Image, and Likeness (“NIL”) era of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”).
Sorsby came under similar pressure in February of 2026 when the Cincinnati Athletic Department brought suit in federal court alleging that he breached his NIL contract by refusing to pay a $1 million dollar exit fee after transferring to Texas Tech.3 The lawsuit states that Sorbsy promised to pay this amount in liquidated damages if he transferred to another university before completing the terms of his agreement.4Sorsby has signaled that he is unwilling to pay any amount.5
While Sorsby’s damage amount garnered national attention, he was not the first quarterback to come under legal pressure during the winter transfer portal window of 2026. In January, Washington’s Athletic Department threatened similar legal action against their star quarterback, Demond Williams Jr.6 Duke’s Athletic Department took it a step further than Washington’s when they brought suit to enjoin Darian Mensah, the quarterback who led them to their first outright conference championship win since 1962, from entering the transfer portal while it pursued arbitration over their contract which included exclusive rights to his NIL.7
Of these universities, Washington is the only one to have any luck when exploring legal recourse to limit a student-athletes ability to transfer once they have agreed to a multi-year NIL contract.8Williams decided it was in his best interest to return to Washington’s football team and voiced a public apology after examining the threat of litigation.9 Duke reached an undisclosed settlement, freeing Mensah to carry out his plan to leave the university.10 For Georgia and Cincinnati, both athletic departments remain in limbo as they wait for their respective courts to weigh in on the enforceability of liquidated damages and buyout provisions within NIL for contracts student-athletes.
Despite two of these cases finding quick resolutions, it is worth pausing to reflect on the state of college athletics when premier universities conclude they must bring legal action in pursuit of monetary recourse from their student-athletes. It was only five years ago that Alston was decided, the case that toppled the historic framework that limited student-athlete compensation to the cost of attendance.11 For the sake of the next generation of college student-athletes, it is paramount that universities decisively find an alternative option that does not require the student athletes who work tirelessly to benefit their respective schools to be dragged through the costs of litigation. There is no need to look for an additional enforcement body when the College Sports Commission (“CSC”) has been created to do this very thing.12 Athletic Departments that have agreed to the “House Settlement” should agree that the CSC has full authority to enforce buyout provisions so that future generations of student-athletes can have clear guidelines on who will be forced to pay their buyout fee if they transfer away from a university they have an agreement with.
[1] Tucker Harlin, College Football Powerhouse Forced to Bid High on No. 1 Transfer Portal QB Brendan Sorsby (Texas Tech), Sports Illustrated: College Football HQ (Feb. 28, 2026), https://www.si.com/fannation/college/cfb hq/transfer-portal/college-football-powerhouse-forced-to-bid-high-on-no-1-transfer-portal-qb-brendan-sorsby-texas tech (detailing the accolades the led Sorsby to being one of the most expensive college football quarterbacks in the country).
[2] Dan Murphy, Georgia sued, opening door to challenge transfer portal damages, ESPN (Dec. 23, 2025), https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/47399978/georgia-sued-opening-door-challenge-transfer-portal damages/
[3] Mark Schlabach, Cincinnati sues Sorsby over $1M exit fee after Texas Tech transfer, ESPN (Feb 25, 2026), https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/48035774/cincinnati-sues-sorsby-1m-exit-fee-texas-tech-transfer; Justin Williams, Cincinnati sues ex-QB Brendan Sorsby for $1 million buyout after transfer to Texas Tech, NY Times (The Athletic) (Feb. 25, 2026), https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7070963/2026/02/25/brendan-sorsby cincinnati-football-lawsuit-texas-tech/.
[4]Id.
[5]Id.
[6]Andrew Destin, Washington QB Demond Williams says his short-lived departure was a mistake and he got bad advice, AP News (Feb. 4, 2026), https://apnews.com/article/washington-demond-williams-return-nil-portal-lsu 15d6ee2206c8439dcee40c8dec3c845d.
[7] Justin Williams and Matt Baker, Duke, Darian Mensah reach resolution allowing star QB to play elsewhere, ending legal battle, NY Times (The Athletic) (Jan. 27, 2026), 20https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7001586/2026/01/27/duke-darian-mensah-settlement-buyout-transfer/; Aaron Beard, Duke and QB Darian Mensah reach settlement to resolve legal fight, clearing way for his transfer, AP News (Jan. 27, 2026), https://apnews.com/article/duke-mensah-lawsuit-faeced1f035313ae80a56cface72109a.
[8] Destin, supra note 4.
[9] Id.
[10] Williams, supra note 5.
[11] 141 S. Ct. 2141 (2021)
[12] Williams, supra note 5.