A new twist has been added to the LSU-Ole Miss rivalry as Saturday’s big game and Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford approaches.
The Tigers’ Princewill Umanmielen was handed court papers in the parking lot of LSU’s football facility on Tuesday related to the Rebels’ breach-of-contract lawsuit against him, per ESPN.
The defensive end was one of many that followed Kiffin from Ole Miss to LSU after the coach decided to leave the Rebels after six years at the end of the 2025 season.
In response, Ole Miss sued Umanmielen along with offensive lineman Devin Harper in late July, seeking close to $1 million for unpaid buyouts — $550,000 from Umanmielen and $400,000 from Harper in addition to lawyer fees and court costs.
Per court records in the Circuit Court of Lafayette County in Oxford, Mississippi, Umanmielen was tagged with the plaintiff’s first set of interrogatories, requests for production of documents and requests for admission on Tuesday.
“We defer to our initial statement on the matter and have no further comment,” Ole Miss officials told ESPN.
The timing of Tuesday’s move shouldn’t go unnoticed.
No. 8 Ole Miss is set to host No. 7 LSU on Saturday, which will mark Kiffin’s first time back at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium since controversially bolting before the Rebels’ College Football Playoff run. It is arguably the most anticipated regular-season game of the year.
Harper has not been served legal papers in the case, per the circurit court’s website.
ESPN was told LSU officials were aware that Ole Miss counterparts would look to attempt to serve Umanmielen ahead of this week.
Sources told the outlet previously that the lawsuit is more about holding LSU accountable for the $950,000 on its revenue sharing cap, rather than getting the money back from its former players.
Ole Miss alleges both Umanmielen and Harper breached their revenue-sharing contracts within a 90-day window, per the lawsuit.
Umanmielen allegedly signed a revenue-sharing contract to return to the university on Jan. 3 this year, but he entered the transfer portal on Jan. 20 and signed with the Tigers the following day. Similarly, the school said Harper allegedly signed to return on Jan. 6 and entered the portal eight days later before signing with his new team on Jan. 16
Umanmielen began his college career at Nebraska, playing for two season before joining the Rebels in 2025. He currently leads the nation in sacks (5) and is tied for first in tackles for loss (6.5).
Harper has yet to start at LSU.
