Xavier Lucas' attorney responds to comments from Wisconsin athletic director

Miami cornerback Xavier Lucas's attorney, Darren Heitner, responded to social media posts from sports business reporter Amanda Christovich and Yahoo Sports College Athletics columnist Ross Dellenger. Heitner responded to comments by Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh about needing assistance with the transfer portal.

Lucas withdrew from Wisconsin and enrolled at Miami in January after McIntosh and the Badgers' athletic department would not let him enter the transfer portal. Wisconsin is upset with Lucas after he signed a revenue-sharing contract with them in December.

Dellenger quoted McIntosh about what the next actions could be for Wisconsin. McIntosh has frequently implied without saying it directly, that the Hurricanes tampered with Lucas before he withdrew from Wisconsin and enrolled at Miami. Lucas is an alum of American Heritage in Fort Lauderdale.

Lucas played one season with Wisconsin after signing with the Badgers as a four-star prospect in the 2024 class. The recruitment for Lucas was reportedly between Miami and Wisconsin at the end with Miami initially being favored to sign him per On3.

" (We will) evaluate all of our options...I’d emphasize the importance of the agreements which we’re now able to enter into with our student-athletes. It’s not acceptable that those agreements are interfered with."

Wisconsin AD Chris McIntosh

"The Wisconsin athletic director wants help controlling the transfer portal. He runs the athletic program that blatantly violated NCAA rules regarding the transfer portal with Xavier Lucas. Congress shouldn’t do his dirty work...Continue to evaluate those options, because escalating will render your contracts unenforceable."

Xavier Lucas' attorney Darren Heitner

Heitner is clearly calling out the hypocrisy of McIntosh. Wisconsin wants help controlling the transfer portal when they refused to allow one of their own players to enter which violates NCAA rules. Reshad Hudson of Yahoo reported McIntosh asked a congressional committee to create clearer laws for name, image and likeness deals.

NIL deals have varying laws for each state. Although frequently tied together the NCAA has no rule and the laws vary by state, if at all, preventing a player from entering the transfer portal despite their NIL deals. NIL went into effect on July 1, 2021 and still has a long way to go to evolve and create a national standard.

Tying NIL deals to transfers will be even more complicated. The NCAA can create rules regarding NIL deals and transfers, but those can be challenged in court. How each state responds will make it even more complicated. National legislation will need to be created to try and make all programs equally competitive.