Duke is suing its star quarterback as college football’s transfer portal shuffle breaks new ground

By Dana O’Neil, CNN

(CNN) — There is a new Mendoza line in sports and unlike the one in baseball, which signifies lousy offense, this one is all about winning: Everyone wants the next Fernando Mendoza.

The Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback’s stunning success at Indiana has upped the premium on transfer quarterbacks. The inevitable capitalistic evolution of the House settlement that allowed for the paying of athletes guaranteed there would be winners and losers, and the winners are – no surprise – the signal-callers.

That is what is at the root of the lawsuit filed by Duke University against its quarterback, Darian Mensah. The university is trying to block its second-team All-ACC QB from entering the transfer portal, going so far as to file suit in the Durham County Superior Court to prevent it. The school argues “contracts mean something,’’ and that it had paid Mensah for exclusive rights to his NIL.

The school asked for a temporary restraining order to block him from leaving until the two sides could go through arbitration as the contract outlined.

Ruling from the bench, a judge denied Duke’s request but that only means Mensah can enter the portal; he is not free to actually enroll in another school until the matter is settled. The hearing is currently scheduled for early February. Mensah’s lawyers want that date moved up.

“Mr. Mensah has an existing contract with Duke which the university intends to honor, and we expect he will do the same,” a Duke Athletics spokesperson said in a statement to CNN Sports. “The court-ordered temporary restraining order (TRO) issued yesterday ensures he does not violate his contract. The university is committed to supporting all our student-athletes, while expecting each of them to abide by their contractual obligations.”

Like a lot of messy divorces, this started with a wandering eye, a lover scorned and boils down to the money.

Just last month, Mensah pledged his loyalty to Duke in a heartfelt Instagram post that ended, “I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world.’’ And after beating Arizona State in the Sun Bowl, he said of his wide receiver Que’Sean Brown, “I wouldn’t want to do this with anyone else.’’

Until someone else came along.

From the lawsuit: “Under the NCAA rules and regulations, other schools may not contact student-athlete, directly or indirectly, until the student-athlete has entered the transfer portal. At 2:07 p.m. ET on Friday, January 16, 2026, sports media reports began to circulate that Mensah was considering entering the portal and was being offered purported ‘buyout’ of his contract with Duke University.”

Translation: “Someone else dangled some more cash in front of our quarterback.” The alleged suitor, according to the lawsuit, is Miami, which adds a little spice to things. The Hurricanes aren’t merely an ACC rival for Duke. Miami also pushed now Duke head coach Manny Diaz out after three years as its head coach to make way for Mario Cristobal.

But Miami doesn’t want to take Mensah to mess with Duke for funsies any more than Duke wants to keep Mensah to stick it to Miami. Mensah threw for 3,973 yards and 34 touchdowns. That’s what this is about.

Mensah is just the latest quarterback joining the new dance craze in college football: The QB Shuffle. According to On3’s online database: Josh Hoover is headed from TCU to Indiana, which means Hoosier backup Alberto Mendoza is headed to Georgia Tech, where the Yellow Jackets needed a QB after Aaron Philo, their backup to the graduating Haynes King, left for Florida, which had lost its quarterback, DJ Lagway, to Baylor, to complete the Texas-to-Texas cycle.

In this case, Carson Beck is out of eligibility at Miami. The Hurricanes tried to convince Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson to skip the NFL draft and come play for the Hurricanes. He declined, so they need someone – preferably someone good.

Duke, in the meantime, understandably, would like to keep the man who led the Blue Devils to their first ACC title since 1962. Plus, their backup, Henry Belin IV left for Missouri State and with the January portal window closed, they don’t really have a Plan B.

As his team was prepping to play for the national title this weekend, Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich took time to talk free market value to a cluster of reporters.

“We’ve never been able to ‘rule’ ourselves into competitive equality,’’ he said to Sports Illustrated. “Schools are going to invest differently. I really think we could go around the mulberry bush for an awful long time, but if we just let market forces work, I think over a period of time we’d get level water here.’’

Miami reportedly offered Simpson $6.5 million to eschew going pro. Odds are the school offered Mensah more than he was making at Duke and no matter how loyal he might be, everyone has a little bit of Rod Tidwell in him: Show me the money.

So here we are.

The question is: Where do we go?

The basis of Duke’s argument, centering around its lawsuit, is hardly invalid. There is a signed contract. No doubt it is also music to the ears of many a coach and administrator in college athletics. Plenty have fumed that, while they do not begrudge their athletes making money, they fail to understand why the deals aren’t enforceable.

The concept of the transfer portal started in large part as a reaction to the NCAA rules that let coaches leave without impunity but forced athletes to sit out. Coaches and schools, however, are beholden to their deals. They can’t just walk away without at least some sort of financial penalty. Schools typically have been reticent to push back when players ask to leave, fearing both the bad look and lawsuits to come.

But the Mensah mess comes just weeks after Demond Williams announced his intentions to leave Washington, with all indicators suggesting a reported relocation to Baton Rouge and Lane Kiffin.

Forty-eight hours later, Williams had a change of heart: “After thoughtful reflection with my family, I am excited to announce that I will continue my football journey at the University of Washington.”

In between, his agent quit on him and Washington threatened to sue over his contract, according to ESPN.

Perhaps, then, the tide may turn on enforcing NIL contracts. The quarterback shuffle, though, continues.

Just yesterday, according to the On3 database, Miami quarterback Emory Williams put his name in the portal.

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