Mizzou DE Damon Wilson II Countersuing Georgia Over Transfer Dispute

In a new complaint, Wilson's attorneys allege Georgia interfered with Wilson's ability to transfer and harassed him throughout the 2025 season.

Sep 6, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers defensive end Damon Wilson II (8) warms up prior to a game against the Kansas Jayhawks at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Missouri EDGE Damon Wilson II is at the forefront of one of the latest developments of the new era of college football, being involved in a legal dispute against the athletics department of his former school, Georgia, regarding his transfer away from the school in 2025.

In early December, Georgia was seeking to go to arbitration to receive $390k in damages from Wilson. The program claimed that a term sheet Wilson signed shortly before his departure required him to pay a lump sum "equal to the rest of the money he'd have received had he stayed for the length of the contract," Dan Murphy reported for ESPN, if he were to transfer or withdraw from the contract.

Wilson entered the transfer portal on Jan. 6, 2025, a month after signing the deal.

Tuesday morning, Wilson's attorney countered the move by alleging the athletic program of a civil conspiracy to "punish Wilson for entering the portal" a move first reported by The Athletic.

The term sheet Wilson signed was with Georgia's Classic City Collective (CCC), calling for him to receive a payment of $30,000 each month from December 2024 to January 2026 and two bonus payments of $40,000 that would be paid after the transfer portal closed. The CCC paid him the first payment of $30,000 in December of 2024. After Wilson transferred, Georgia claimed he owed the remainder of the term sheet that he did not receive — the $390k Georgia is seeking as liquidated damages.

"The resolution could hinge on Wilson’s argument that the NIL agreement with Georgia’s collective was a binding contract," The Athletic reported.

The countersuit largely revolves around claims that Georgia's athletic program interfered with Wilson's ability to transfer and continued to pester him throughout the 2025 season.

According to the filing, Georgia continued to "harass" Wilson when he was enrolled at MU. This allegedly involved sending Wilson a letter just days before the 2025 season started, demanding he arbitrate the purported dispute of the lump sum.

"Throughout the 2025 football season, UGAA continued to assert similar demands in an effort to harass Wilson and impair his on-field performance for a conference rival," the filing writes.

Georgia outside linebacker Damon Wilson II (35) at the first day fall football camp in Athens, Ga., on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023. | Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK

It alleges that Georgia falsely told three college programs who were negotiating with Wilson while he was in the portal that he would owe Georgia a $1.2 million buyout. When players that transfer owe a buyout to their previous school, oftentimes the school who acquires the player will pay the buyout. False claims of an expensive buyout would make teams believe Wilson would be a more costly addition.

Additionally, Wilson's attorneys claim that Georgia didn't immediately enter Wilson's name into the transfer portal, instead making strong efforts to retain Wilson at Georgia.

The countersuit also alleges that immediately after Wilson entered the portal, Georgia broke the confidentiality agreement of the deal by "disclosing one or more of the Term Sheet’s provisions" to news outlets in order to "tarnish Wilson's reputation" as he looked to begin negotiations with other programs.

The direct legal interaction between Wilson and Georgia is an unprecedented action — something that is becoming typical in this era of college football with rules and framework that is constantly changing.

"One of the things that I’ve said quite a bit is what we're being asked to do has never been done before in the history of college football ever," Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz said in a press conference on Dec. 16. "So there’s gonna be a lot of mistakes made, and be a lot of new ways mapped out moving forward."

In one season with Missouri, Wilson led the team with nine sacks. If he were to declare for the 2026 NFL draft, he's projected to be one of the top edge rushers in the class.