MADISON, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin’s athletic department said it has “credible information” that the University of Miami and Xavier Lucas made impermissible contact with each other before the former Badgers cornerback decided to transfer to his home-state school, where he is expected to play for the Hurricanes.
Lucas’ lawyer, Darren Heitner, said Friday that his client was going to play for the Atlantic Coast Conference school even though Wisconsin had never entered Lucas’ name into the NCAA transfer portal.
Wisconsin issued a statement Saturday saying it hadn’t put Lucas’ name into the portal because on Dec. 2 he had entered into a two-year binding name, image and likeness agreement with “substantial financial compensation” for him.
“Under the terms of the agreement between Xavier and Wisconsin Athletics, it remains in effect and enforceable,” Wisconsin’s statement read. “Badger student-athletes who have signed these agreements expect Wisconsin Athletics to honor the terms. Wisconsin Athletics relies on the student-athlete representations in signing these agreements that they will do the same. A request to enter the transfer portal after entering into such an agreement is inconsistent with the representations and mutual understanding of the agreement and explains the reason for not processing a transfer portal request under these circumstances.”
Heitner had said Friday in a social media 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 Heitner added that Lucas has since withdrawn from Wisconsin.