Arkansas' NIL collective has hired a high-profile sports attorney to enforce buyout clauses in NIL agreements after student-athletes enter the transfer portal.
According to CBS Sports, the move from the Arkansas Edge collective to hire sports attorney Tom Mars is unprecedented, as the collective seeks to enforce buyout provisions in NIL contracts at the school.
The collective is reportedly following orders from Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek to pursue the buyout money in contracts broken by players in an insistent statement released Tuesday, just two hours after Iamaleava entered the transfer portal.
"I have spoken with the leadership team at Arkansas Edge and expressed my support in their pursuit to enforce their rights under any agreement violated by our student-athletes moving forward," Yurachek said on social media last week, as reported by CBS Sports. "We appreciate Edge's investment in our student-athletes and acknowledge the enforcement of these agreements is vital in our new world of college athletics."
Iamaleava is joined by receiver Dazmin James in leaving Arkansas. Both contracts will reportedly be dealt with by Mars and Blueprint Sports.
Darren Heitner, the attorney representing James, said he doesn't believe the contract is enforcable.
"My position is that the buyout clause in the agreement is unenforceable, as written and applied, under Arkansas state law," Heitner said. "For liquidated damages to be valid, they must reasonably estimate potential damages and apply when actual damages are hard to determine. Here, since Dazmin James received no payment and the agreement was terminated just a few days after execution, BPSE suffered no harm. Thus, the clause appears to be a penalty rather than a fair estimation of damages, making it unenforceable."
Iamaleava signed a one-year contract with Arkansas worth roughly $500,000 in January, according to people familiar with the deal. The contract included a provision requiring Iamaleava to pay the collective 50% of the money remaining on the agreement should he leave the school. He was due $400,000 in remaining payments, which amounts to a buyout of $200,000, a source told CBS Sports.
