MADISON, Wis. — In an unusual move, former Wisconsin cornerback Xavier Lucas has withdrawn from the school and enrolled at Miami following a prolonged standoff with the Badgers in which they declined to enter him into the portal after he requested a transfer, Lucas’ attorney Darren Heitner told The Athletic on Friday. Yahoo! Sports first reported the news.
The initial impasse stemmed from a signed name, image and likeness-related agreement that Lucas entered into in December before he returned home to Florida for school break. Lucas subsequently announced on his X account Dec. 19 that he would be entering the transfer portal. NCAA protocol requires schools to adhere to a player’s transfer request by submitting paperwork within two business days, but Lucas’ name never appeared in the portal.
Lucas said at the time that Wisconsin denied his request to enter the portal. Wisconsin has declined requests for comment on the situation.
Because Lucas was never in the portal, he said schools were not able to communicate with him. The transfer portal window closed for Wisconsin players on Dec. 28, with 23 scholarship players and two walk-ons entering the portal. Lucas, meanwhile, remained in limbo.
“I still intend to transfer, but at the moment Wisconsin is refusing to release me into the transfer portal,” Lucas posted Dec. 27 on X. “I’ve met all NCAA requirements of the transfer portal process. I’ve yet to be put into the transfer portal by Wisconsin which is impeding my ability to speak with schools.”
Now, he has taken matters into his own hands by enrolling at Miami.
On Jan. 7, Lucas and his family hired Heitner to represent Lucas in his battle against Wisconsin. Heitner also serves as an adjunct professor of NIL at the University of Miami School of Law. He argued that Wisconsin was violating NCAA rules by not putting Lucas into the transfer portal, calling it “an illegal restraint.”
Heitner said he spoke to representatives at Wisconsin in an attempt to broker a resolution but said it ultimately was not going to be possible. Heitner said Lucas and his family reached out to Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell last week to express their case for wanting to be closer to home but instead were given reasons why he should remain at Wisconsin. Heitner said he has since sent a notice to Wisconsin to terminate the signed agreement.
“I still to this day don’t quite understand what Wisconsin believes or understands its position to be,” Heitner said. “I gathered in the process that it didn’t even seem like they were fully aware of what they were relying upon to not put the player in the portal. I don’t know what the connect or disconnect is between the school and the collective.
“It seemed like there was a lot of misinformation and I’m not confident that the school and or the Big Ten appreciates the myriad holes in the agreement that was executed, which we don’t believe is valid or binding.”
A Wisconsin athletic department spokesperson and Rob Master, executive chair for The Varsity Collective, declined to comment Friday. Lucas, his father and his mother did not respond to requests for comment.
Lucas, a four-star prospect from Pompano Beach, Fla., signed with Wisconsin in December 2023 despite a late recruiting push from Miami. He appeared in 11 of 12 games for Wisconsin as a freshman with one start and finished with 18 tackles, one sack and one interception. Lucas was in line for a potential starting role next season.
Lucas did not officially sign with Miami’s football program and therefore could avoid NCAA transfer rules entirely as part of this rare situation. Heitner said he is confident Lucas, who initially enrolled for the fall 2025 semester, will be able to reclassify to the spring semester.
“The transfer portal really isn’t needed in order for a player to change schools,” Heitner said. “All one has to do is unenroll and then decide to enroll elsewhere. And if that next school will accept that student, then really the portal loses a lot of its purpose.”
It is unclear whether Wisconsin would attempt to litigate the matter further, but Heitner said he would be prepared if necessary.
“I would have never expected Wisconsin to maintain its completely irresponsible position throughout,” Heitner said. “So in a normal circumstance I would say I’m convinced that they understand the worst possible thing that they could do for their reputation would be to try to escalate this. But they haven’t used logic from the start, so I don’t know what they will do.”
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(Photo: Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
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