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Darian Mensah is looking to transfer away from Duke after one season with the football team. His pursuit of a new school was temporarily put on hold thanks to a North Carolina judge.
The quarterback announced his plan to enter the portal on the final day of the January window. The Blue Devils sued him as a result.
The root of that lawsuit goes back to last offseason. Mensah signed a two-year NIL deal with the university worth an estimated $4 million per season.
He completed Year 1 of that obligation, going 9-5 and winning the ACC. He was expected to return to Durham to finish out the contract terms. This week, he reversed course.
Miami wants Darian Mensah.
The Hurricanes have made a living off of high-paid transfer portal quarterbacks over the last two seasons. They look to make it three.
Cam Ward was paid handsomely to leave Washington State in 2024. He led the program to 10 wins before becoming the No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick.
A year later, Carson Beck left Georgia for a seven-figure payday to take Miami to the national championship. He, however, is now out of eligibility.
The Hurricanes now have Mensah in their crosshairs as the next target. They are rumored to be the top threat following his surprise transfer portal entry.
Unfortunately, the process of getting him to campus has been delayed.
I’ll preface this by saying that I am not a lawyer. This is simply information gathered through recent reporting of the situation at hand.
Duke sued Mensah after transfer intentions were made clear. A North Carolina judge heard the case this week.
That judge was Michael O’Foghludha, a Blue Devils basketball season ticket holder married to a librarian at the university.
O’Foghludha denied Duke’s bid for an emergency temporary restraining order. Mensah is not barred from entering the transfer portal.
The judge did, however, sign an order preventing the signal caller from enrolling elsewhere until at least February 2nd.
The passer can stay in the portal, but for the moment, cannot play for another school. He cannot sign a licensing deal with another school. He is stuck in transfer purgatory.
The decision is temporary.
This will ruling will remain until the preliminary injunction hearing on Feb. 2, 2026. https://t.co/HWIBLlFvlP
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 21, 2026
Judge O’Foghludha recused himself from further proceedings, reassigning the case to another judge to be heard in early February. His ruling will remain until then.
We will know more on Darian Mensah’s future when that time comes.
For now, he is not allowed to play football anywhere other than Duke. That could change in a matter of days.
In the end, Mensah might still end up at Miami with a buyout being paid. Or maybe the Blue Devils make it too expensive to move on. A renegotiation of terms could even be on the table.
Darian Mensah can’t be legally forced to stay at Duke. There is no way that happens. He’s a college student & college students can transfer schools.
Duke, however, can make the economic costs of leaving so high that he decides to stay + Duke could offer to pay him more to stay. https://t.co/EAi44Qo0rH
— Michael McCann (@McCannSportsLaw) January 21, 2026
On Wednesday, Duke landed a small win with the ruling, but this messy saga appears far from through.