New suit challenges transfer portal damages – ESPN

Former Georgia pass rusher Damon Wilson II says the school’s athletic department is attempting to illegally punish him for entering the transfer portal in a lawsuit filed Tuesday, part of an ongoing dispute that could have far-reaching implications on how player contracts work in college sports.

Wilson transferred last January to Missouri, where he was the team’s leader in sacks during the 2025 season, weeks after signing a term sheet for a 14-month name, image and likeness contract with Georgia’s booster collective. He collected $30,000 in an initial payment for what was a $500,000 deal before leaving the Bulldogs. Georgia filed a lawsuit last month claiming that Wilson owed the athletic department $390,000 in liquidated damages for leaving the team.

Wilson’s countersuit, filed in Missouri state court, claims that Georgia has “weaponized” a liquidated damages clause in an unenforceable way to “punish Wilson for entering the portal.”

Many schools have inserted liquidated damages clauses in their contracts with athletes since starting to pay players directly earlier this year. Several legal experts who reviewed player contracts for ESPN in the past say schools are inappropriately attempting to use liquidated damages as a de facto “buy out fee” for players who break a contract to transfer. Experts say liquidated damage fee must be tied to actual damages suffered by the party and can’t be used as punishment for breaking a contract. Wilson’s case is one of the first major tests of whether schools can effectively enforce these clauses to try to dissuade players from transferring.

“Georgia appears intent on making an example of someone, they just picked the wrong person,” said Jeff Jensen, one of Wilson’s attorneys. “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.”

Georgia spokesman Steve Drummond said the school had no comment because it involves pending litigation and referred to a previous statement he shared after Georgia filed its initial claims against Wilson.

“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,” Drummond said in early December.

The new lawsuit filed Tuesday claims that Drummond’s statement is defamatory and intended to harm Wilson’s reputation. The suit also claims that Georgia, the Classic City Collective and the collective’s operators committed tortious interference and civil conspiracy against Wilson.

The lawsuit states that Georgia officials told coaches at other football programs that Wilson had a “$1.2 million buyout” in an alleged attempt to dissuade other schools from recruiting him.

Wilson’s lawyers argue that the three-page term sheet he signed last December is not legally binding because it isn’t a full contract. The document, which was shared as part of Georgia’s lawsuit, states that it will “be used to create a legal binding document.”

Wilson and his attorneys have yet to file a response to the school’s claim, which was filed in Georgia and asks a judge to force both parties to settle their dispute in arbitration. State judges in both cases will have to parse through the case to determine who has jurisdiction to make a ruling.

Wilson will play in the Gator Bowl this Saturday with Missouri to finish his junior season.