Demond Williams Jr. vs. the University of Washington is at a fever pitch right now. There's so much flying around that there may be some things that you missed in the debacle. There are four things that seem relatively important but are also flying around at the peripheries of the discussion. Therefore, this article is to pull all four of those things forward.
1. Demond Williams Jr. shares the same agent as Jedd Fisch
The sports world is complicated and shady; the agents behind the athletes and coaches may be even shadier. Looking for quick paydays and cash outs. Nothing helps an agent more than an open market and a new contract. Why? The agent also receives a cash-out payment when a new contract is signed. So, agents are actively pushing players to the portal.
The weird and sticky part of this situation is that Williams and Fisch share the same agent. Yikes. Can you imagine the complexity of what is happening behind the scenes with this?
2. Williams' signed contract had language prohibiting a player from entering the portal once signed
This is a very important part of the legal side of things and maybe even the key to the whole legal case. Williams signed a contract that prohibited a player from entering the portal after signing the contract. Four days later, he entered the portal. That's messed up, but also, Washington has to test how binding the contract is.
This is also why they refuse to enter his name in the portal: the contract prohibits its use, even though he's using it.
3. LSU was actively dating another QB when this went down
All the big names are saying it's Lane Kiffin and LSU that are the ones doing the tampering and recruiting Demond Williams Jr. away from Washington. While this was happening, Kiffin was sitting courtside with Sam Leavitt at a LSU basketball game.
Kiffin isn't known for his moral compass, but he's literally on a date with one QB while tampering with another. That's insane and shows how shady Kiffin is.
4. UW is not wanting Demond back but is wanting damages
There are a lot of strange people out there who think that Washington taking this to court is some sort of hostage situation. That Jedd Fisch is going to force Demond to put on a Husky uniform and play quarterback next season. That's silly. That ship has sailed, and it burned while it was sailing; there's no coming back from this.
So what is Washington doing? Seeking damages AND hopefully paving the way for contracts to actually matter in college football. College football can't survive if it's open season all the time, at any time. It's impossible, and colleges have to start standing up to the shady side of the business.