The Arkansas Razorbacks Are Trying to Bring Accountability to NIL Chaos. Other Schools Are Watching

Arkansas wide receiver Dazmin James (83) in action during a football game against Tennessee in 2024. (AP Photo/Mike Buscher)

The monetization of name, image and likeness has transformed college athletics, but the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville is trying to bring some accountability to the chaos.

In April, freshman quarterback Madden Iamaleava left the Razorbacks after just four months to enroll at UCLA, joining his brother, Nico, who had transferred from Tennessee. UA Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek almost immediately told Blueprint Sports, the national company that runs the Razorbacks’ NIL collective, Arkansas Edge, to go after the money in the buyout clause of Iamaleava’s contract.

Blueprint Sports hired Tom Mars, a prominent sports attorney in Rogers who has represented collectives, coaches and players. Coincidentally, Mars represented former UA football coach Bret Bielema in his buyout clause dispute with the Razorback Foundation in 2020.

Now he is in Arkansas’ corner to enforce the NIL buyout language in contracts signed by Iamaleava and wide receiver Dazmin James, who transferred to California after this past season.

“In this new era of collegiate athletics, contracts with student-athletes are going to be a critical tool,” Yurachek said in an email to Arkansas Business. “Like all agreements, there are two parties that sign them, and it will be important for both sides to be held accountable. Across our industry everyone is looking for consistency and stability and enforcing contracts can be a huge step in achieving both.”

Mars said UA’s legal actions against Iamaleava and James, who saw little playing time in two seasons, are being watched by other athletic directors and collectives across the NCAA. He declined to speak to any specifics or the status of the cases involving the two former players.

“I really admired Hunter Yurachek for coming out and being the first one to really come out and take a leadership role on this because that required courage,” Mars said. “I’ve known enough other head coaches and ADs, and they’re basically saying, ‘[Yurachek] did what we really wanted to do, but our university board was reluctant.’ They’re all still waiting to see what’s gonna happen.”

A Question of Honor

The monetary stake is the $200,000 that the UA says Iamaleava owes the collective to buy out his NIL contract.

Brandon Marcello of CBS Sports reported that Iamaleava had received $100,000 of his $500,000 contract, which stated he owed half of what remained if he left the university. Mars said every contract has consequences for breaking them and it was “dishonorable” for an athlete to renege.

“I can say every contract that I have seen that I have advised a collective client about has been, in my opinion, an enforceable contract,” said Mars, who has represented approximately 70 collectives. “I think it’s kind of dishonorable [for an athlete] to say ‘I knew I had to pay part of this back, it’s in black and white, it couldn’t be more clear, but it’s unenforceable.’ Well, when did you start thinking it was unenforceable?

“How do you think these boosters feel about their money going to a young man, not on a handshake, but with a written contract. Nobody ever said they couldn’t leave, but they just have to honor the contract. To take that money and not do anything but just leave is dishonorable. It’s wrong. It’s not an honorable thing to do.”

Attorney Darren Heitner of Miami, who represents James, said the UA and its collective didn’t suffer any monetary damages when his client left. Heitner said in a social media post in April that James had just signed a contract but transferred before receiving any money.

When contacted by Arkansas Business, Heitner declined to comment further.

“My position is that the buyout clause in the agreement is unenforceable, as written and applied, under Arkansas state law,” Heitner wrote in April. “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, [Blueprint Sports] suffered no harm. Thus, the clause appears to be a penalty rather than a fair estimation of damages, making it unenforceable.”

Mars disputes that opinion.

“One of the common defenses — I guess this is really a Twitter lawyer defense more than a factual defense — is these liquidated damages provisions aren’t enforceable,” Mars said. “Well, maybe there are some I haven’t seen that are not enforceable, but what I have seen are absolutely enforceable.”