After Georgia sued Missouri's Damon Wilson II earlier this month, the star edge is now firing back with a lawsuit of his own.
According to a report by The Athletic, Wilson is alleging a civil conspiracy involving Georgia’s collective for trying to “penalize Wilson for his decision to transfer.” The suit claims that Georgia told potential transfer programs that they would owe $1.2 million if Wilson left the Bulldogs.
Mizzou NIL situation gets messier with new details about Wilson's lawsuit
The initial suit by Georgia was over an unpaid buyout clause in Wilson's NIL contract. They were seeking $390,000 as a penalty for departing for the Tigers ahead of the 2025 season. Now, Wilson is firing back, alleging that the Bulldogs and their collective's actions were “an effort to prevent (other schools) from offering Wilson an NIL agreement, thereby impeding his ability to obtain an NIL agreement."
NIL has long been known to be the wild west, and this case is further proving the point that it's nearly impossible to police. This is the first major dispute over a breach of contract, and others could certainly follow. For Wilson, he's coming off of a career year with nine sacks, and could potentially enter his name into the NFL Draft.
After the initial suit from Georgia earlier this month, Wilson's lawyer, Bogdan Susan offered up a statement that hinted they might be taking legal action of their own.
"After all the facts come out, people will be shocked at how the University of Georgia treated a student-athlete," said Susan. "It has never been about the money for Damon, he just wants to play the game he loves and pursue his dream of playing in the NFL."