Attorneys for Duke and for its former/current/future quarterback Darian Mensah will meet in a Durham County courtroom on Thursday. In a typical court case docket, this hearing would be listed among 20 other items already filed in a case that is only a week old. But to the college football world, the current structure of the game is at stake.
In the case of Duke University v. Darian Mensah in the Superior Court Division in Durham, there will be a hearing on an emergency motion filed by Mensah’s legal team last Friday. The motion seeks to reconsider a temporary restraining order put on the quarterback by Judge Michael O’Foghludha last week. In its most logistical form, it is a partial restraining order. It allows Mensah to enter the transfer portal as he wishes. But he cannot complete the remaining steps to playing football elsewhere. Mensah cannot enroll in another school. He cannot sign a licensing agreement with another school for his name/image/likeness rights. In other words, he can enter the portal (now well past the deadline to do so), but then he has to just sit and wait while the legal process winds through the issue.
What’s At Stake This Week in Duke v. Mensah
The next hearing in the matter was scheduled for February 2nd.
Mensah’s attorney, Tricia Magee, filed an emergency motion on Friday. She sought to have the next hearing, on an injunction against Mensah, heard that same day. The court essentially split the difference and scheduled the hearing for this Thursday.
Timing
The filing from Mensah, which includes an affidavit from the quarterback, said the timing is critical because of enrollment dates at his desired next destination, the University of Miami. Classes at Miami actually started on Monday, January 12, a full four days before Mensah even made his last decision to enter the portal. The last day to add/drop classes has also come and gone (January 21st).
But in the affidavit, Mensah says he was unaware of the deadlines. He further states that those who were acting as his advisers or agents during the hasty departure from Duke never told him of the enrollment deadlines. Thus, Magee’s filing declaring that every day is of the essence for Mensah. In her filing, Magee wrote, “Once enrollment and academic deadlines expire, no later judicial ruling can restore the lost opportunity.”
All of the enrollment deadlines have been missed. But in the world of big-time college sports, what school would not find a way to miraculously get in the next starting quarterback?
Mensah is currently in the second year of a revenue-sharing/NIL contract with Duke. It expires in December 2026. Magee is seeking to have all restraints taken off her client so that he can walk away from the signed contract and engage in a new one for a year at Miami.
Next
Thursday’s preliminary injunction hearing will have a pseudo-trial feel to it. James Cooney III, one of Duke’s attorneys, will need to present summary-level facts of the plaintiff’s case in order to convince the court that they have a reasonable chance of success at trial. That could give cause for the court to issue an injunction preventing Mensah from completing any transfer out of Duke until the results of a trial, which could easily not be until 2027.
If Duke cannot get the injunction on Thursday, Mensah most likely would be free to move on to Miami, special admission rules and all. His contract with Duke being in the shredder would also likely open the door for others under contract across the country to decide to transfer at-will.
The case has moved from Judge O’Foghludha to Judge Ed Wilson. O’Foghludha recused himself after his initial compromise ruling, as he got his undergrad degree from Duke University. Wilson will hear the case going forward. For what it’s worth, Wilson got his undergrad degree from the University of Virginia and is a graduate of Wake Forest Law School. It’s all in the ACC family in this part of the country.
Main Image: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images
