Duke University files a lawsuit against QB Darian Mensah

Duke has filed a lawsuit against quarterback Darian Mensah seeking to block his efforts to transfer and reach a contract with another school to play elsewhere next season.

The university filed its complaint in Durham County Superior Court on Monday, three days after Mensah reversed his previously announced plan to return to the Blue Devils after leading them to the Atlantic Coast Conference title. A hearing is now listed for the case on Feb. 2, according to the court system’s online portal.

The school argued that its two-season contract with Mensah — signed in July 2025 and running through 2026 — paid him for exclusive rights to market Mensah’s name, image and likeness (NIL) tied to playing college football. It sought a temporary restraining order from the court to prevent Mensah from entering the portal along with blocking him from taking additional steps in the process of reaching a deal with a new school, arguing that the contract requires parties to go through arbitration before any dispute can be resolved.

“This case arises out of the decision of a star quarterback in the increasingly complex world of college athletics,” the complaint states in its opening. “But at its core, this is a simple case that involves the integrity of contracts.”

In an email to The Associated Press on Tuesday afternoon, sports-law attorney Darren Heitner, who has worked with Mensah, said Duke’s request for a temporary restraining order preventing Mensah from entering the transfer portal at all had been denied. In a later social-media post, however, Heitner said Mensah “is not, for the time being” allowed to enroll or play football elsewhere before a decision by a judge set to preside over the next hearing.

Mensah, who transferred in from Tulane and even faced his former team, finished second in the Bowl Subdivision ranks by throwing for 3,973 yards while ranking tied for second with 34 passing touchdowns.

The Mensah-Duke case is the latest in what has is becoming a more frequent occurrence in the revenue-sharing era of college sports: legal fights over contracts between schools and players seeking to transfer.

Earlier this month, Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. announced plans to transfer before changing his mind two days later, coming amid multiple reports that the school was prepared to pursue legal options to enforce Williams’ NIL contract.

And in December, Missouri pass rusher Damon Wilson II filed a lawsuit claiming the athletic department at Georgia was trying to illegally punish him for entering the portal in January 2025.

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