Ole Miss may end up trying to collect on the field and in court.
Athletic director Keith Carter said the school is still looking into whether it can pursue buyout payments from former Rebels Princewill Umanmielen and Devin Harper after both transferred to LSU. The two players are now set to be on the Tigers’ side of the Magnolia Bowl in 2026, but Ole Miss believes they still owe money tied to the deals they signed before leaving.
During a recent interview with the Clarion Ledger, Carter was asked whether the school could go to court to recover the unpaid buyouts. His answer made clear that nothing is off the table.
“That would be an option, going and asking a court to get that money for you,” Carter said, per Sam Hutchens. “Contracts are with the players.
LSU could pay that on behalf of the players. So we’re kind of exploring all of that right now.
Per the Clarion Ledger, both players signed revenue-sharing deals directly with Ole Miss athletics. On3 has reported the total to be just under $1 million. Carter would not confirm that figure, but he did describe the amount as “significant.”
The bigger issue, Carter said, is that these kinds of agreements are still so new in college sports that the rules around enforcing them remain unsettled. Even so, Ole Miss believes it has a legitimate claim.
Those are the kind that, having signed a brand-new rev share contract basically a week or two before wanting to leave, those are the kind that put you in a bind, especially there in the portal cycle,” Carter said, per Hutchens. “Those two we’re going to continue to figure out how to collect. We feel like based on the contract we deserve to collect.
The LSU game at Ole Miss was already going to draw plenty of attention in 2026, with Lane Kiffin returning to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium as the opposing head coach. If this buyout dispute turns into a court case, it would add another layer to an already loaded rivalry matchup.
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