Georgia seeks $390,000 in NIL damages from edge rusher Damon Wilson II after transfer to Missouri

Wilson signed an NIL agreement with the Bulldogs prior to his January exit

The Georgia athletic department seeks $390,000 in damages from former Bulldogs outside linebacker Damon Wilson II after his transfer last offseason to Missouri. Citing a clause in Wilson's NIL contract, Georgia asked a judge to force Wilson to enter arbitration to settle the dispute. Legal documents show that Wilson was served a court summons last week in Missouri.

If the judge sides with Georgia, this could be a landmark case in college athletics. Georgia and other schools include clauses in their NIL contracts that equate to buyouts, and a ruling in the Bulldogs' favor would set the precedent that such clauses are legally enforceable. Player buyouts could, in turn, become even more commonplace as schools seek to protect themselves financially from the perils of the transfer portal.

Wilson, a former top-50 recruit, spent the first two years of his college career at Georgia and developed into one of the most promising young edge rushers in the SEC. He inked a new deal with Georgia's NIL collective in December 2024 but entered the transfer portal and moved to Missouri weeks later in January 2025.

While Georgia paid Wilson $30,000 under the terms of the new deal before his departure, the athletic department says Wilson owed a $390,000 lump sum within 30 days of his exit.

The contract was a 14-month agreement worth $500,000, which was set to be paid in monthly $30,000 increments. Georgia would have also paid Wilson two $40,000 retention bonuses at the end of the NCAA transfer portal windows. The exit clause states that Wilson would owe a lump-sum payment worth the total he would have received if he remained with the program through the duration of the contract.

The NIL collective signed the rights to the damages over to the athletic department on July 1.

"When the University of Georgia Athletic Association enters binding agreements with student-athletes, we honor our commitments and expect student-athletes to do the same," Georgia spokesperson Steven Drummond said to ESPN.

Wilson was the No. 3 overall prospect and top-ranked edge rusher in the 2025 transfer portal cycle, per 247Sports. He delivered on expectations at Missouri this season with a team-high nine sacks and an interception.

This is among the first instances of a school publicly seeking NIL damages from a former player over a breach of contract. Arkansas' NIL collective hired an attorney in April to pursue and enforce a buyout clause in former Razorbacks quarterback Madden Iamaleava's agreement in what was, at the time, an unprecedented move. The Arkansas Edge collective also sought buyout money from former receiver Dazmin James.