Duke and QB Mensah reach settlement, clearing way for his transfer

The legal fight between Duke and Darian Mensah is over. Now the quarterback can transfer elsewhere after bringing the Blue Devils an unexpected Atlantic Coast Conference title. The school and Mensah's agency released statements Tuesday confirming they had reached settlement without providing any details. It came roughly a week after Duke filed a lawsuit seeking to block Mensah's efforts to transfer and reach a contract with another school to play elsewhere next season. The case was scheduled for a hearing Thursday in Durham County Superior Court, with a judge having granted Duke's request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking Mensah from doing anything beyond entering his name into the transfer portal. Attorneys for both sides filed a joint motion with the court Tuesday morning for dismissal, citing a "confidential agreement" reached to resolve the case. Mensah, who transferred from Tulane and led the Blue Devils to their first outright ACC title since 1962, had signed a two-season contract in July 2025 running through 2026 that paid him for exclusive rights to market his name, image and likeness (NIL) tied to playing college football. Resolution and next moves "We are committed to fulfilling all promises and obligations Duke makes to our student-athletes when we enter into contractual agreements with them, and we expect the same in return," the school said in a statement. "Enforcing those agreements is a necessary element of ensuring predictability and structure for athletic programs. "It is nonetheless a difficult choice to pursue legal action against a student and teammate; for this reason we sought to resolve the matter fairly and quickly." Young Money APAA Sports, which represents Mensah, issued a statement in a social-media post saying the agency had "successfully navigated an unprecedented path, one that has now reached a fair and mutually agreeable resolution." "Darian extends his sincere gratitude to Duke University for engaging in good-faith discussions and reaching this resolution," the agency said. "He wishes the Blue Devils, Coach (Manny) Diaz, the staff and the entire fan base continued success in the seasons ahead. "The 2025 ACC championship run will forever stand as a remarkable chapter in Duke football history, one Darian is proud to have been part of." Mensah was in the process Tuesday of scheduling and going through a visit to Miami, a person familiar with the quarterback's plans told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because those details were not revealed publicly. Miami has long been expected to be Mensah's landing spot. The Hurricanes have excelled with portal quarterbacks, getting No. 1 overall NFL draft pick Cam Ward for the 2024 season and bringing in Carson Beck for this year's run to the national championship game. Receiver Cooper Barkate, Mensah's top target at Duke with 1,106 yards and seven scores, has also entered the transfer portal but has yet to announce his next stop. The person who spoke to AP about Mensah's plans said Barkate is going through a similar process with Miami. More to come Mensah's case highlighted a more frequent occurrence in the revenue-sharing era of college sports: potential legal fights over contracts between schools and players seeking to transfer. Examples include Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. backing off transfer plans amid multiple reports the school was prepared to pursue legal options to enforce Williams' NIL contract, along with Missouri pass rusher Damon Wilson II filing a lawsuit claiming Georgia's athletic department was trying to illegally punish him for entering the portal in January 2025. Sports attorney Mit Winter said settlements will remain the likely outcome in most cases as these fights become the norm. "People need to realize these NIL contracts are not going to keep an athlete at your school," Winter said. "If the athlete wants to leave, they're going to be able to leave. You can't hold them there. So what you can do is build in financial protections with strong, enforceable buyout language." Winter has also said eventually moving to employment contracts for college athletes would provide more clarity. "Everyone knows what the law is with respect to employment contracts, whether you can have non-competes or you can't have non-competes," Winter said of contract clauses. "When we get to that point, I think that will create a lot more certainty for everybody involved." Course change triggers legal fight Mensah, who transferred in from Tulane and even faced his former team, finished second in the Bowl Subdivision ranks by throwing for 3,973 yards while ranking tied for second with 34 passing touchdowns. Mensah and Duke announced his return in December, coming between the overtime win against Virginia for the ACC title and the Sun Bowl win against Arizona State. But Mensah abruptly reversed course with hours left before the Jan. 16 window closed for players to enter their name into the portal, deleting the Instagram video announcing his return and tweeting his intention to depart. Duke sued Mensah to block his move three days later, arguing the contract required parties to go through arbitration to resolve disputes. The Blue Devils unsuccessfully sought to block Mensah from entering the portal entirely. But a judge granted the TRO blocking Mensah from taking additional steps — such as enrolling elsewhere or reaching a financial deal to play for a new school until the upcoming hearing. That was slated for Feb. 2 before Mensah's attorney filed an emergency motion asking the judge to "reconsider" the TRO, as well as moving up the hearing date. In a striking passage, Mensah's filing argued that "neither Mensah nor counsel was aware of any enrollment deadlines" at the case's first hearing on Jan. 20. A judge moved up that hearing a few days, but Winter said going through arbitration — Duke had already filed the request to start that process — can lengthen a case possibly by months. Now Mensah is cleared to enroll at another school ahead of spring practices for the 2026 season this fall. ___ AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this report. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football