Damon Wilson sues Georgia over NIL dispute, alleges Bulldogs penalized him for transfer
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Missouri defensive end Damon Wilson II countersued the Georgia athletic association along with the school’s former NIL collective over a six-figure NIL dispute on Tuesday in the Circuit Court of Boone County, Miz. Wilson, who had a breakout junior season with the Tigers in 2025, is also suing the UGAA for defamation related to comments a Georgia spokesperson gave to ESPN earlier this month.
Wilson, who was originally sued by the Bulldogs’ athletic association in mid-November for $390,000 in liquidated damages after he broke a NIL agreement by tranferring to Mizzou in January, alleges the school and collective joined in a “civil conspiracy” and tortious harrassment campaign in an effort to ultimately penalize Wilson for transferring.
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“Georgia appears intent on making an example of someone, they just picked the wrong person,” Wilson’s attorney, Jeff Jensen of Torridon Law, said in an email to On3. “Damon never had a contract with them. I don’t see how Georgia thinks intimidation and litigation will help their recruitment efforts — maybe players could bring lawyers with them to practice.”
The countersuit alleges Wilson signed what he considered to be a non-binding “term sheet” and not a binding NIL contract without the presence of legal council and felt pressured to sign the paperwork “with the understanding it was not final” on Dec. 21, 2024. Wilson’s countersuit also alleges the UGAA and NIL collective damaged his transfer opportunities after he entered the transfer portal in January by informing interested schools of a purported $1.2 million buyout that didn’t actually exist.
Wilson played for the Bulldogs in 2023 and 2024, and signed a new NIL agreement with Georgia’s Classic City Collective two weeks prior to entering the NCAA Transfer Portal this past January. Through its collective, Georgia initially paid Wilson a total of $30,000 before his transfer, and claims Wilson still owes the school a lump sum of $390,000 that was due within 30 days of his decision to leave the team, according to ESPN.
“When the University of Georgia Athletic Association enters binding agreements with student-athletes, we honor our commitments and expect student-athletes to do the same,” Georgia athletics spokesman Steven Drummond told ESPN in a statement Dec. 5.
Wilson’s defamation claim alleges Drummond’s quote above “was misleading given that no binding agreement existed with Wilson,” per an email sent to On3.
Georgia sues Missouri DE Damon Wilson for liquidated damages after transfer
Georgia’s athletic association filed a civil suit Nov. 19 requesting an Athens-Clarke County judge to compel Wilson into arbitration to settle a clause in an agreement he had with the Bulldogs’ team collective that effectively served as a buyout fee for exiting his NIL deal early when he transferred to Mizzou following the conclusion of last season. A copy of the lawsuit was obtained by On3‘s UGASports.com.
The particular clause cited in Wilson’s deal with the Classic City Collective is for “liquidated damages” that many schools and collectives have inserted into their NIL agreements to both protect their investment in players and deter transfers, per ESPN. Georgia is believed to be among the first college athletic departments to publicly try to enforce the “liquidated damages” clause by filing suit against the player.
Wilson signed a term sheet with the Classic City Collective in early December 2024, shortly before the Bulldogs’ College Football Playoff quarterfinal loss to Notre Dame. Wilson’s 14-month contract with the collective was worth $500,000 to be distributed in monthly payments of $30,000 with two additional $40,000 bonus payments to be paid out in February and June 2025 once this past year’s transfer portal windows closed for remaining committed to Georgia, according to legal documents obtained by On3.
Wilson’s contract with Georgia’s collective reportedly dictated that should Wilson either withdraw from the team or enter the transfer portal during the term of the deal, he’d owe Classic City Collective a lump sum equal to the remaining money he would’ve received had he stayed with the Bulldogs through the length of the term sheet. The collective’s damages calculation does not include the two bonus payments that weren’t ultimately paid out. The Classic City Collective ultimately signed over the rights to those damages to Georgia’s athletic department on July 1 after most schools took over player payments following the June passing of the House Settlement.
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