Ole Miss reportedly serves lawsuit papers to LSU's Princewill Umanmielen days before Tigers' game at Rebels
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Princewill Umanmielen was officially served papers in Ole Miss’ lawsuit against him. And those papers arrived just days before Umanmielen returns to Oxford as a member of LSU’s football team.
According to ESPN, the Tigers’ edge rusher was served outside the LSU football facility on Tuesday. Ole Miss had filed suit against Umanmielen and former offensive lineman Devin Harper this summer after the two had followed coach Lane Kiffin to LSU.
Ole Miss officials requested payment from Harper and Umanmielen on Jan. 16 and Jan. 22, respectively, according to a timeline provided to ESPN in July. Neither player responded within the 30-day deadline to make the payment.
Umanmielen and Harper were served with a summons on Aug. 14 and didn't respond within the 30-day window.
The school accuses both Harper and Umanmielen of breaking the revenue-sharing contracts they signed with the school in January. According to the suit, both players signed new deals with Ole Miss in early January, when the Rebels were alive in the College Football Playoff. However, both players entered the transfer portal in the days after Ole Miss’ loss to Miami in the semifinals and went to join Kiffin at LSU.
Kiffin had been LSU’s coach for approximately a month when those deals were signed. He left Ole Miss at the end of the regular season after attempting to figure out a way to both be the new coach at LSU while simultaneously coaching the team in the College Football Playoff.
Ole Miss, understandably, did not want to go for that. It promoted defensive coordinator Pete Golding to replace Kiffin for the playoff and beyond.
The school is asking for nearly $1 million in penalties from both Umanmielen and Harper.
Umanmielen has been one of the best edge rushers in college football so far this season. He had two sacks in the Tigers’ blowout win over Clemson in Week 1 and then added three more sacks in the Tigers’ victory over Louisiana Tech in Week 2.
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