In what should be affectionately called the "Xavier Lucas" rule, the NCAA has finally created a punishment and rule for what transpired at Wisconsin. The Badgers signed star cornerback Xavier Lucas to a new deal, and then, when his agent shopped it, Miami offered a better one. When Luke Fickell wouldn't let Lucas out of his contract, he submitted his name to the transfer portal. Lucas just circumvented it.
Lucas decided to basically unenroll from Wisconsin and enroll at Miami without the transfer portal. It's a case that is still in court, but the NCAA has now created punishment around it. And the punishment is a hefty one that could seriously hurt a program.
The Division 1 cabinet approved the penalty for a program that "signs a transfer student-athlete, adds a transfer student-athlete to a roster, or allows a transfer student-athlete to participate in athletically related activities before the student-athlete is entered into the NCAA Transfer Portal." The penalties agreed upon would be automatic: a 50% season suspension for the head coach and a fine of 20% of the sport's budget.
It’s now official that teams will be punished if they add a player who didn’t enter the transfer portal during the January window.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) April 1, 2026
The penalties approved today by the Division I cabinet: pic.twitter.com/PTgmi4umOW
Wisconsin can't get back what they lost with Xavier Lucas but they did help fix the problem
This is a big win for Wisconsin, as they've been fighting for something like this since Lucas did this to them. While it won't fix the original problem, that issue will be worked out in court. It does allow a solution going forward. Mario Cristobal, the head coach of Miami, knew he could get away with tampering, so he didn't care. Now, he will think twice before he participates in this again.
Lucas wasn't the only one who did this, but he was the first and most notable. Now, there will be enforceable penalties. Will it completely fix this? No, and players, coaches, and schools will still find ways to tamper and cheat. There will still be moments that cause chaos, but between the Big Ten player contract that was instituted after the Lucas drama and this rule, it's a huge win overall.
The Big Ten contract itself has already proven to help. When Demond Williams Jr. tried to leave Washington in the offseason because another program was tampering, he eventually decided not to jump because of his contract. Or at least that's what the reigning theory is.
Now there's another barrier entirely: players have to use the portal, or the coach and program will be severely punished.