Duke sues Darian Mensah, tries to stop transfer portal entry

Duke University sued quarterback Darian Mensah on Tuesday, and a judge denied a request for a temporary restraining order that would have prevented him from entering the transfer portal.

Darren Heitner, Mensah’s attorney, told ESPN that Durham County (North Carolina) Superior Court Judge Michael O’Foghludha ruled from the bench Tuesday, pending a written ruling, and denied Duke’s request that Mensah be enjoined from entering the transfer portal.

Heitner said Duke is expected to enter Mensah into the transfer portal Wednesday.

“The judge, a Duke basketball season-ticket holder, and thus a booster, also recused himself from future proceedings,” Heitner said.

As a result, a different judge, Ed Wilson, will rule on Duke’s request for relief that would prevent Mensah from enrolling at another school, playing at another school and licensing his name, image and likeness to another school.

Heitner said Wilson is scheduled to hear the case on Feb. 2, but Mensah’s team will push to move the date sooner.

Mensah informed Duke coach Manny Diaz that he intended to transfer on Friday, the last day of the transfer portal window.

Under the terms of Duke’s NIL contract with Mensah, any disputes must be settled through arbitration. The school said it filed a claim for arbitration Monday and wants the judge to issue relief until the end of that arbitration process.

Mensah, who led the Blue Devils to a 9-5 record and ACC title this past season, announced Dec. 19 that he intended to return to Duke this coming season, instead of entering the NFL draft. He had a multiyear NIL contract with Duke, which expires Dec. 31, that was believed to be worth up to $4 million for the upcoming season.

“Mensah reversed course, informed Duke that he would seek a transfer, and issued a public farewell,” the lawsuit said. “In so doing, he repudiated the contract. He proposes now to move onto another collegiate institution and act as if his obligations to Duke University do not exist. None of these facts can be disputed. But contracts mean something.”

Mensah, who started his college career at Tulane, has been linked to Miami, which is seeking a successor for quarterback Carson Beck. The No. 10 Hurricanes lost to No. 1 Indiana in Monday’s CFP National Championship.

In a sign that Miami has secured a quarterback for 2026, backup Emory Williams told ESPN on Tuesday that he has entered the transfer portal. He is expected to go to East Carolina.

“[I]f Mensah is permitted to continue his course of ignoring his contractual obligations and transfer to another school to compete in football and license his NIL rights to that school, Duke University will have no ability to protect its rights in an arbitral proceeding,” the lawsuit said. “Indeed, those rights will be practically worthless if Mensah is allowed to enroll at another collegiate institution, play football there, and relicense his rights. If allowed to enter the portal, Mensah can, within less than a day, do precisely this. In other words, unless the present position of the parties is preserved, Duke University’s ability to seek relief is irreparably limited.”

Duke’s attorneys wrote that Mensah violated the terms of his NIL agreement by “disclosing its monetary terms, seeking to license his NIL in football and to another collegiate institution, seeking his enrollment at another institution, initiating contact with admissions or athletics staff at another institution, failing to notify Duke University if he is contacted by another institution or its representatives, and/or acting in way that has now harmed his image and the image of Duke University by ignoring the terms and conditions of his contract.”

Duke alleges in the lawsuit that if Mensah joins another school, he’ll “negotiate a license agreement for the rights that he has licensed to Duke.”

This past season, Mensah led the ACC with 3,973 passing yards and 34 touchdowns, while completing 66.8% of his attempts.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel contributed to this report.