Chapter 1: What stories does Jason share from his trip to Africa?
Hey there, Duke fans. Episode 789 of Basketball Roundup. This is an unfamiliar voice. I should probably reintroduce myself because I can't imagine any of you know who I am.
who is that guy what's going on it's jason evans back from two weeks in africa um i'm with donald wine scott rich scott i want to thank you buddy for filling in for me doing a great job i listened donald to all the episodes while i was away did a lot of listening on airplanes i i had one there was one day where i was on planes for like 20 hours
that sounds right yep yeah so there was a lot of podcast listing happening um but uh but yeah scott did a wonderful job and i'm so so appreciative of him appreciative of the audience for not being pissed off at me for taking the trip of a lifetime i will tell you very very quickly uh there is
There is nothing on this planet quite like being two or three feet away from a 400-pound gorilla that could rip you apart in a heartbeat if it wanted to, but frankly is more interested in the leaves that it's eating than anything that you're doing. So it was really, really incredible, man.
Just a fabulous trip. Yeah, I'm glad you were able to take it. Welcome back. Again, thank you to Scott for filling in for the last couple weeks. And we'll have Scott back on, obviously, down the line. We have a Michigan game next month where he will be useful in the preparation for that game. Yes, yes.
But I just want everyone to know out there that Jason went all the way to Africa and ain't bringing me back nothing. Not a single thing. He sent me pictures, but he ain't bringing me back no water from Lake Victoria. He ain't bringing me back a leaf, nothing. So just, you know, just saying.
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Chapter 2: What legal issues are at the center of Duke's lawsuit against Darian Mensah?
i will tell you what i have and i will hold on to some of it for you for the next time we are together i have tea oh yes so one of the places that we stayed at by the chimpanzees in rwanda is a tea farm and and my wife and i took like a little lesson in tea and uh we we found out that the tea that you like the lipton stuff that normally the stuff that you normally drink
crap it's it's nothing it's horrid it is it is the most disgusting tea on the planet i got the good stuff i got the stuff that was this was like 20 for like a couple ounces of tea this is the really really hard to make it tea and i tasted some of it and i went i don't know what this is but this is not the tea that i've ever had in my lifetime it was amazing i promptly bought a whole bunch of my wife was like you're overpaying this is the most expensive tea in the world i'm like i don't care this stuff is great
So Donald, next time we are together, sir, I will serve you some fine Rwandan tea that is outstanding. Like I said, it is unlike any tea you've ever tasted in your life.
I've had some Rwandan, I guess, like potato whiskey. I'm sorry, potato vodka, which was quite interesting. But yeah, I'm a big fan of tea. Would love to try some. That would be great. And just for the feds out there listening, we are talking about actual drink tea. No other substances here.
did jason not smuggle anything to me so uh that'd be cool next time these are not code words or anything like that right it's the real thing all right we've had a pleasant fun time laughing and joking about my trip to africa but while i was away uh my phone was blowing up i was blowing up your phone with all the news about duke football and that is what we are here to talk about on this episode specifically uh darian mensah
or Duke versus Darien Mensah, I should say. That's the proper phrasing of the lawsuit, this lawsuit that has been filed in just the past 24 hours or so. We didn't come on, we toyed with the idea of coming on last night, Tuesday night, shortly after the lawsuit had been filed and discussing it.
But we wanted to get a lawyer, an expert in contract law, to come on with us and discuss everything that he found in this very fascinating document. I'm speaking of none other than Donald Wine.
I needed to read, y'all. That's what happened. There's a lot to take from this, so I had to read it all.
Yeah. So rather than bringing on an outside expert, we have an expert with us in-house. Donald is a professional attorney who spends a lot of time reading documents. And reading documents is essential to understanding what it is Duke has asked for, what it is the courts have granted them so far, and also thinking about what it is Darian Mensah may say in response because ā
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Chapter 3: What does Duke want from the court regarding Darian Mensah?
All of this is influential not just for Duke, but for the entire sport of college football. I would argue perhaps also for the entire sport of college basketball. This is a major, major case involving athletes, athlete freedom to go where they want, schools freedom to ensure that things that athletes promise them would be, those promises will be kept.
There's just a million and 50 implications to all this. Again, Donald, you're the expert. Let me start off by saying to you, as you read through, A, the complaint that Duke filed with the court, and B, the contract which was included in that complaint. This is the contract. I don't think we've ever seen anything like this before in the public sphere.
The NIL contract that Darian Mensah signed, also signed by Nina King of Duke University. This was a contract entered into last July. And Duke says this binds Darian Mensah to us for two years. The final date is December 31st of 2026. I guess there'd be some question as to whether Darian, if Duke was in a New Year's Day bowl game or if Duke was in the college football playoff.
and extended into 2027. I guess there's some questions as to whether there would be some additional payments required. I don't know. I don't want to get into all that. But in any event, why don't you tell me what you have found? Just take us through the facts that were filed with the court and what it all means.
So before I get into that, let me say a couple of things. The first thing is, looking at this case, Jason, as football fans, as fans of Duke, as alums, There's the natural disposition for people to get emotional about what they want out of this case. And you and I are going to talk about that a little bit later.
What we want to get out of this case, what we want to see happen emotionally, like as a fan, as a alum, and as a supporter of Duke football, what do we want from this?
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Chapter 4: What legal expertise does Donald Wine provide in this case?
The law does not care about emotion. In theory, it takes emotion out of that equation. And so the emotion thing will be the words that you're about to hear come out of my mouth might be something that you may not want emotionally.
And the only thing that lawyers and doctors have in common is if we don't like the answer that a lawyer or doctor gives us, our natural disposition emotionally is to run and find a second opinion. You're welcome to do that. But this is how I'm interpreting things from what I'm reading. And again, using my background and also, again, trying to shed the knowledge or the emotion out of it.
The other thing I will say is some of this is going to be legalese. I'm going to try and put it into layman's terms as much as I possibly can. But sometimes that's not quite possible. So bear with me if it feels like this is a little bit verbose. Go ahead.
Yeah, and I will try to jump in at places where I'm like, wait a second, what does that mean? Because I am not a lawyer. Correct. Correct. So I'll be able to hopefully steer you down the straight and narrow so everyone understands. Go for it, sir.
So let's start with a very simple question. What is Duke asking for? So Duke has filed what is called a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction. What they're trying to do basically is say, hey ā Darian Mensah is violated, has breached his contract, and because of that, we are in harm right now, immediately and in perpetuity, and we want damages. What do they want?
They want basically to say ā that the court to say that Derry Mensah can't enter the transfer portal, that he can't enroll at another school, that he can't play football at another school, and that he can't license his NIL anywhere else. That Duke has this right via the contract that they both agreed to and that for the next year until December 31st, 2026 ā
Every part of what I just said should be Derry Mensah at Duke University. Now, that's interesting because, again, we'll talk about the emotions part of it. They're basically saying we want to control his NIL rights, and we want him to stay at Duke to play football and not play football or use his NIL anywhere else.
Those may be contradicting in several ways, and we'll talk about that a little bit later.
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Chapter 5: How does the contract affect Darian Mensah's ability to transfer?
But right now, let's talk about what the court has already ruled. And this is also interesting. There was a hearing yesterday, Tuesday, very, very quickly after this was filed for the temporary restraining order portion. It's, again, to put something in place to preserve the status quo of this case until it is held and until we're able to discuss it in full.
Right. And we should note that this is important because Duke would suffer irreparable harm If Darien Mensah enrolls at Miami or some other school, if he picks some other school, goes to some other school, begins practicing football, taking classes, all kinds of other stuff. That's the kind of thing that once that happens, the ship has kind of sailed.
It makes it extremely difficult to unwind that. So Duke is saying, hey, court, hold on a second. Don't let him do these things because there's no coming back from this. So it's not surprising that Duke made that argument.
And what's interesting about this, and we're going to talk about this a little bit, but in this complaint, this is Duke University versus Darien Mensah. The University of Miami and any other school is not a part of this right now because as it stands right now, Darian Mensah has not officially entered the transfer portal.
He's going to be in a couple hours, as I mentioned in a second, and he hasn't signed with another school. So there hasn't been any breach or tortious interference that you've seen online. There hasn't been that yet by another school. This is Duke versus Darian Mensah, the football player. So, again, they had a hearing yesterday, and Judge Michael Ofugula said, ruled on the TRO almost immediately.
And he said this. He said, one, Derry Mensah cannot sign an NIL deal, enroll, or play football for another school until the preliminary injunction is heard, which will be in a couple weeks. Daria Mensah also cannot take any other action that would, quote, interfere with, diminish, or impair Duke University's exclusive rights under the contract, end quote.
So that means his people can't talk to anybody else. He can't talk to another school. But... The judge also said that all of those things that they say that he can't do right now does not preclude Duke from entering him into the transfer portal. So by 11.59 p.m. tonight on Wednesday. Duke must put Darien Mintz's name into the transfer portal.
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Chapter 6: What are the implications of the court's ruling on college sports?
So that part is happening at some point, and I'm sure Duke will have some sort of statement when that comes out. Now, Oflugula is going to recuse himself and already has recused himself from the rest of this case because, coincidentally, he is an Iron Duke and a Duke basketball season ticket holder. He's also married to a Duke librarian, so...
The conflict of interest has rendered him out, but I guess he had enough to rule against Duke in a lot of different ways in this particular case, or at least the temporary restraining order.
Would you say ā I'm not a lawyer. I would say that his initial rulings ā give Duke a lot of things that Duke would like. I mean, yes, he said you have to put Mensa in the portal, but he also said Mensa can't pick another school. Mensa can't license his NIL rights. He essentially froze. He said, put him in the portal.
But once he's in the portal, he can't really do anything until there's been additional hearings.
Don't you agree? Yes, but there's also, again, Duke is asking for all these things. The real piece of that was putting him in the transfer portal. Because once he's in the transfer portal, then schools can contact Darian Mensah without it being tampering or a breach of contract on Darian Mensah's part. He may not be able to contact other schools.
But once you're in the transfer portal, that means schools can talk to you. And I think that's where Duke is saying we can't hold on to our rights the way that we want to if he's able to be put in the transfer portal. So this is a win and a loss for Duke in the temporary restraining order area.
I don't know. I think ā look, I know that no one wants to violate a judge's orders. And I know that Darian Mensah's representatives understand what is legal and what is not. But honestly, I mean, like saying, oh, these schools couldn't talk. These schools have been talking to Darian Mensah already and his family and his representatives and the such, even though that's, yeah.
So I don't know that putting him in the portal is that huge a thing for Duke to lose. The prominent thing that Duke, as I said a moment ago, the prominent thing that the court ruling gives is Duke, Darian Mensah can't go any place else until after there are additional hearings and additional court rulings.
For the moment, he is somewhat bound to Duke, although I don't think he's in Durham taking classes. In fact, I think that in the end... No, he's been in Florida.
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Chapter 7: How might the outcome of this case impact future NIL contracts?
Yeah, I think that unless the courts move really, really fast, or unless there's some kind of settlement that happens in the next few days, the spring semester is going to be one where Darian Mentz is not enrolled at any school. That'd be my bet.
Well, I think also he might still be enrolled at Duke because he has not unenrolled from Duke. Since he's already there, he doesn't have to enroll again. He's already there. So he probably has classes on his schedule that he's not showing up to. But I think the key here is, yes.
Dropout is your friend. Dropout is your friend.
Yeah, but I think it pass fail. But I think the thing about it is people are going to look at this and say, this is a win for Duke. It's not a full win, right? Like 85% may be passing, but it's not 100%. What Duke wanted, the big key here is that, yes, Jason, you're thinking about all the schools that have probably contacted Darian Mensah prior to him entering the portal.
But Duke has not sued any other school for tampering. Think about that. They have not sued anybody for tampering because, in theory, the agent could have reached out to another school and say, hey. If my client was to enter the portal, how interested would you be in him?
But now, if he does enter the portal, which he's supposed to by 1159 tonight, schools can contact him directly without violating the court order. Darian Mensah and his agent and everybody may not be able to negotiate with him, but they can still send offers. That's still something that can happen.
And again, it's a question of whether that's going to happen, but you know there's some schools who see Darian Mensah in the portal, and even with the case... We've seen that some teams just don't care, right? So they're going to get some of that. It may not be a big deal for Duke, but there's a reason why Duke didn't want him in the portal. It's because they didn't want that part to happen.
So it's still a win, and it's still a loss. You can weigh what the, again, the balances of justice is. Like, yeah, we got most of what we want. I'm cool.
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Chapter 8: What are the possible scenarios for Darian Mensah and Duke moving forward?
Again, that's an emotional thing. But on the legal side of things, this is not a total win for Duke.
Okay. Again, I don't know that it's that huge a deal compared to the court saying, but he can't go anywhere yet. From Duke's standpoint, from what we've heard, and in fact, Duke even cited this in the complaint, the offer from Miami is so huge that that the fact that Mensah can, you know, once he enters the portal, can presumably talk to other teams. I don't know that it matters that much.
They're just not, they're not other teams. I mean, anyway, let's move on. We're getting bogged down on all this.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, about that, because that's important. Because what they put in the complaint is the tweet that everyone has seen, right? About the $10 million deal, the buyout of the contract. First of all, I will say that everyone is sourcing that one tweet. There has been no other major. It could be entirely wrong. I agree. Could be entirely wrong what's happening here, right?
And it also, again, I've heard through the grapevine that there are other schools that have contacted him offering similar things, but obviously didn't get out as quickly as this Miami thing did. So the idea, though, is... With Darian Mensah, his agent probably, again, reached out to set that up. And maybe even Miami wasn't a part of it, right? It could have been intermediaries trying to do this.
That happens a lot, too. But I will say that, again, that part... is an emotional thing that does not stop anyone from contacting Mensa. Once he's in the portal and saying, I know you have this $10 million offer here or, or you might not, but once this is panned out, we can offer you more.
There's nothing to stop them from fielding calls, just like the dead period for recruiting for high school, right? Where they can contact coaches and coaches that go, okay, yeah, sure. I'll talk to you because you initiated the conversation. So let's get to the con or to the, uh, the crux of what is happening here. And it all centers around this exclusive contract.
And what basically Duke has said, or in this contract, and Jason, I know you read it, I've read it as well. There's an exclusive contracts clause that basically makes it where Mensa has promised that he will not make a similar commitment of NIL licensing through a letter of intent or through entering the portal to enroll at or compete in athletics for another collegiate institution.
Now, the other thing, and we'll talk about this on the emotional side of things, the other thing that it also says is if he decides to declare for the NFL draft, he still can't make any similar commitments with regards to NIL. And I'll talk about why that's important a little bit later. But the breach here is by him...
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