LSU edge rusher Princewill Umanmielen is pushing back hard in his fight with Ole Miss, saying he signed his revenue-sharing agreement with the Rebels for the 2026 season under “undue pressure” from the coaching staff before he eventually followed Lane Kiffin to Baton Rouge.
Umanmielen is being sued by Ole Miss for buyout money tied to that January deal, and he’s now asking for the case to be moved out of Lafayette County, Mississippi, where it currently sits. Ole Miss is seeking $550,000 from Umanmielen, along with legal fees. The university filed suit in late July, and Umanmielen was served during the week of LSU’s Sept. 19 game at Ole Miss.
“Princewill's belief and this petition derive from ‘the undue influence’ of Ole Miss, ‘prejudice existing in the public mind’ and for the ‘other reasons stated in this petition’ to be further developed during discovery,” read a Friday petition for a change of venue.
The legal filing from Umanmielen’s attorney, Grafton E. Bragg, argues Ole Miss cannot recover under its “purported liquidated damages provision” because Umanmielen was never paid anything from the contract. It also says the damages Ole Miss wants “bear no reasonable relationship to any actual harm that Ole Miss may have sustained.”
The filing goes even further, stating that “Ole Miss has unclean hands and is entitled to no relief.”
“Given Princewill's age and the nature of the alleged agreement, Princewill may have lacked the legal capacity to contract and affirmatively pleads that defense,” the filing read.
Umanmielen turned 21 a month after transferring to LSU, and he’s been one of the Tigers’ most productive defenders this season. He leads LSU with 8.5 sacks and 12 tackles for loss.
Ole Miss’ version of the timeline says Umanmielen signed a new deal with the school at 10:02 p.m. on Jan. 3, then entered the transfer portal on Jan. 15, one day before it closed.
The Rebels are also pursuing $400,000 from former Ole Miss offensive lineman Devin Harper, who also followed Kiffin to LSU.
Ole Miss asked LSU to cover the buyouts for Umanmielen and Harper, but LSU refused, saying it was not a party to the contracts and therefore had no obligation to pay.
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