A lawyer for Xavier Lucas said the former Wisconsin football player is transferring to Miami, even though the cornerback’s former school never entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal.
Darren Heitner has been representing Lucas, who indicated on social media last month that Wisconsin was refusing to put his name in the portal and that the Badgers were hindering his ability to talk to other schools. Lucas had announced earlier in December that he planned to enter the portal.
The NCAA issued this statement Friday: “NCAA rules do not prevent a student-athlete from unenrolling from an institution, enrolling at a new institution and competing immediately.”
Yahoo Sports first reported Lucas’ plans to transfer to Atlantic Coast Conference member Miami, as well as the NCAA statement.
Wisconsin officials didn’t immediately respond to the AP’s request for comment. Yahoo and the Wisconsin State Journal have reported that Lucas had entered into an agreement to continue playing for the Big Ten’s Badgers before requesting the transfer.
Heitner said in an X post that Lucas had agreed to a memorandum of understanding that was conditioned on the approval of the House v. NCAA settlement — which calls for schools to pay players directly for use of their name, image and likeness — and Lucas attending classes no later than this spring. Heitner added that Lucas has since withdrawn from Wisconsin.
Heitner also said Lucas hasn’t received any money from Wisconsin and therefore owes no money to the school.
The 6-foot-2, 198-pound Lucas, who is from Pompano Beach, Florida, had 12 tackles, an interception and a sack as a freshman for Wisconsin this season.
Sun Belt fines Marshall
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — The Sun Belt Conference fined Marshall $100,000 on Friday for opting out of the Independence Bowl last month.
Marshall withdrew from the Dec. 28 game in Shreveport, Louisiana, after a coaching change resulted in much of its roster jumping into the transfer portal.
Louisiana Tech replaced Marshall in the game against Army, which beat the Bulldogs 27-6.
In a statement, the Sun Belt said “the nature and timing of this decision was detrimental” to the conference and its membership, along with the bowl, Army, the American Athletic Conference (to which Army belongs) and ESPN.
Marshall athletic director Christian Spears said Friday the school accepted the fine and that the opt-out decision was made “for all the right reasons.”
“In good conscience, we could not put out 41 student-athletes out onto that field. And again, we are always going to prioritize the health and safety of our student athletes,” Spears said. “But that doesn’t take away the fact that a sincere and formal apology is due.”