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Ole Miss defensive tackle DeSanto Rollins, who said he was recently kicked off the team for missing practices and meetings during a “mental health crisis,” is suing the university and coach Lane Kiffin for failure to provide equal protection, racial and sexual discrimination, and multiple other allegations, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday.

Rollins, a backup lineman whose career has been marred by injuries, is seeking $10 million in compensatory damages and $30 million in punitive damages. The lawsuit alleges that Kiffin intentionally took adverse action against Rollins “on account of race for requesting and taking a mental health break, but not taking adverse action against white student-athletes” for the same request. It alleges sexual discrimination on the basis that Ole Miss has not taken “adverse action against female student-athletes for requesting and taking a mental health break.”

“We have not received a lawsuit,” Ole Miss wrote in a statement issued through a school spokesman Thursday night. “DeSanto was never removed from the football team and remains on scholarship. In addition, he continues to have the opportunity to receive all of the resources and advantages that are afforded a student-athlete at the university.”

Kiffin declined to comment, deferring to the university’s statement.

The lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi Oxford Division and obtained by ESPN, alleges that at the time of the incident, Ole Miss “did not have written institutional procedures for routine mental health referrals.” It also states that Kiffin, the rest of the coaching staff and the football athletic trainers weren’t provided with “role-appropriate training about the signs and symptoms of mental health disorders and the behaviors of student-athletes to monitor that may reflect psychological concerns.”

According to the lawsuit, Rollins suffered multiple injuries during his career with the Rebels, including a concussion in the spring of 2022 and an injury to his right Achilles tendon that July. The lawsuit claims Rollins “suffered severe depression, anxiety, frustration, embarrassment, humiliation, a loss of sleep and loss of appetite” from the injury to his Achilles.

The lawsuit further states that nobody within the athletic department or football staff provided Rollins with materials about mental health or a mental health referral after the injury. He was reinstated to practice the following month, and in August, he aggravated a previous injury to the LCL in his left knee. In addition to the physical pain he suffered, the lawsuit states that Rollins suffered from “severe depression.”

On Nov. 28, 2022, Rollins met with defensive line coach Randall Joyner for an exit meeting, and Rollins said Joyner tried to persuade him to enter the transfer portal. Rollins declined to transfer. On Jan. 6, 2023, Rollins’ grandmother died, and he “continued to suffer severe depression,” according to the lawsuit.

On Feb. 27, 2023, Rollins met with Kiffin, who informed Rollins he was moving from defensive tackle to the scout team’s offensive line because he wouldn’t transfer. According to the lawsuit, Rollins asked Kiffin if this was “a choice or a command.” Rollins alleged that Kiffin told him “if he didn’t like it then he should quit.”

At that point, Rollins told Kiffin he was going to take “a mental break,” according to the lawsuit. Rollins went to his car and immediately called strength and conditioning coach Nick Savage and reiterated his need for a mental break.

His mother, Connie Hollins, said she called the school’s athletic trainer, Pat Jernigan, and told him Rollins was “suffering a mental health crisis.” She requested Jernigan get a counselor to speak with her son and monitor him.

According to the lawsuit, Jernigan scheduled a meeting for Rollins with Josie Nicholson, the school’s assistant athletic director for sport psychology. She encouraged him to take a step back and scheduled a follow-up session for March 7. When he returned for his next session, Nicholson told him Kiffin wanted to meet with him again, but Rollins said he wasn’t ready to see the head coach yet.

Rollins didn’t meet with Kiffin again until March 21, despite repeated requests from the football staff. During the meeting Rollins legally recorded Kiffin without his knowledge, and a copy of the transcript was included in the lawsuit. ESPN has heard the audio recording but was not able to independently verify it.

“Ok, you have a f—ing head coach, this is a job, guess what, if I have mental issues and I’m not diminishing them, I can’t not see my f—ing boss,” Kiffin said, according to the lawsuit and the audio recording. “When you were told again and again the head coach needs to see you, wasn’t to make you practice, wasn’t to play a position you don’t f—ing want to, ok? It was to talk to you and explain to you in the real world, ok? So I don’t give a f— what your mom say, ok, or what you think in the real f—ing world, you show up to work, and then you say, ‘Hey, I have mental issues, I can’t do anything for two weeks, but if you change my position I won’t have mental issues.’

“I guarantee if we f—ing called you in and said you’re playing defense, would you have mental issues?”

“I definitely would,” Rollins said.

During the audio exchange, Rollins is heard saying, “I mean, you’re acting like my issues aren’t real.”

“I didn’t say they’re not real,” Kiffin responded. “You show up when your head — when your boss wants to meet with you. It wouldn’t have been like this. If you would’ve come here when you kept getting messages the head coach wants to talk to you, you say ‘I’m not ready to talk to him.'”

“I wasn’t,” Rollins said.

“What f—ing world do you live in?” Kiffin asked.

“I don’t see why you have to be disrespectful, honestly,” Rollins said.

“Get out of here,” Kiffin said. “Go, you’re off the team. You’re done. See ya. Go. And guess what? We can kick you off the team. So go read your f—ing rights about mental health. We can kick you off the team for not showing up. When the head coach asks to meet with you and you don’t show up for weeks, we can remove you from the team.

“It’s called being a p—y,” Kiffin said. “It’s called hiding behind s— and not showing up to work.”

The lawsuit alleges that “as a proximate result of the actions and inactions of the defendants … Rollins has suffered physical pain and emotional distress and anguish.” It also cites the Americans with Disabilities Act, alleging that Rollins was kicked off the football team because of his disability, which it states was a “mental impairment.” In addition to the allegations of gross negligence and negligence, the lawsuit alleges intentional infliction of emotional distress, stating that “Kiffin acted willfully, maliciously, recklessly, and wantonly in words and deeds toward Rollins.”

“No person should be subjected to this type of abuse when they’re suffering a mental health crisis,” Hollins said. “He just wanted some time to get through his grandmother’s death. It wasn’t even spring ball yet, but I don’t care, it could’ve been the regular season. Sometimes, everybody needs a break.”

Rollins and his attorney filed a tort claims demand letter May 3, but said in the lawsuit the defendants have not responded to it.

Rollins, an honor roll student expecting to graduate in December with a business degree, had played in only three games as a reserve defensive lineman heading into this season. He redshirted in 2020 and played in one game as a sophomore in 2021 as a backup defensive tackle against Austin Peay.

Rollins declined to comment, other than telling ESPN, “I love Ole Miss, but they do not love me.”

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Sources: Knights land Marner, give star 8 years

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Sources: Knights land Marner, give star 8 years

Mitch Marner was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights — with an eight-year extension in place, sources told ESPN on Monday. Forward Nicolas Roy will go to the Toronto Maple Leafs in return.

Marner’s new deal has a $12 million average annual value, according to sources. Marner, 28, was the biggest name entering Tuesday’s NHL free agency, and multiple teams were hoping to make pitches. Marner was the NHL’s fifth-leading scorer last season with 102 points — 36 more than the next-closest free agent. The winger was drafted by his hometown Maple Leafs with the No. 4 pick in 2015.

The Maple Leafs knew that Marner was looking to test free agency at the end of the season. Over the past few days, Toronto worked with Vegas, which was Marner’s preferred destination, on a trade. The Maple Leafs held Marner’s rights until just before midnight Tuesday.

Had Marner become an unrestricted free agent, he couldn’t have signed a deal for more than seven years.

Marner finished a six-year deal that paid him $10.9 million annually. Marner, who played for Team Canada at Four Nations and likely will make their Olympic team, has 221 goals and 741 points in nine NHL seasons.

Toronto general manager Brad Treliving has stayed busy this week, re-signing John Tavares and Matthew Knies while trading for Utah forward Matias Maccelli earlier Monday.

Roy, 28, is a center who is entering Year 4 of a five-year deal that pays him $3 million annually.

Ahead of the Marner trade, the Golden Knights created cap space by sending defenseman Nicolas Hague to the Nashville Predators on Monday.

The deal makes Marner the highest-paid player on Vegas, however, center Jack Eichel ($10 million AAV) is entering the final year of his contract and is eligible to sign an extension this summer. The Golden Knights might not be done this offseason. According to sources, defenseman Alex Pietrangelo is expected to go on long-term injured reserve, which could create more flexibility.

Sign-and-trades ahead of free agency are becoming a trend for NHL teams that know they will not sign their coveted player; last season, the Carolina Hurricanes dealt Jake Guentzel‘s rights to the Tampa Bay Lightning before he signed a seven-year deal.

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Sources: Panthers keeping Marchand, Ekblad

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Sources: Panthers keeping Marchand, Ekblad

Hours after re-signing Aaron Ekblad, the Florida Panthers kept another integral piece of their Stanley Cup team by re-signing Brad Marchand to a six-year contract extension, sources told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan.

Marchand’s deal has an average annual value of $5.25 million, sources told Kaplan.

Coming to terms with Ekblad on an eight-year extension worth $6.1 million annually left the Panthers with what PuckPedia projected to be $4.9 million in salary cap space.

There was the possibility that Marchand, 37, could have left the Panthers for a more lucrative offer elsewhere considering there were teams that had more than enough cap space to sign him.

Instead? Marchand, who arrived ahead of the NHL trade deadline from the Boston Bruins, appears as if he will remain in South Florida for the rest of his career.

Acquiring defenseman Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks and then adding Marchand were two decisions made by Panthers general manager Bill Zito with the intent of seeing the Panthers win a second consecutive Stanley Cup as part of a run that now has included three straight Cup Final appearances.

Marchand, who was a pending UFA entering the final day before free agency begins Tuesday, used the 2025 postseason to further cement why the Panthers and other teams throughout the NHL would still seek his services. He scored 10 goals and finished with 20 points in 23 playoff games.

For all the contributions he made, his greatest came during the Cup Final series against the Edmonton Oilers.

Marchand, who previously won a Cup with the Bruins back in 2011, opened the series with a goal in the first three games. That includes the two goals he scored in the Panthers’ 5-4 double-overtime win to tie the series with his second being the game-winning salvo.

He scored two more goals in a 5-2 win in Game 5 that allowed the Panthers to take a 3-1 series lead before returning to Sunrise, Florida, where they closed out the series with an emphatic 5-1 win.

Capturing a consecutive title created questions about whether the Panthers can win a third in a row. But there was the understanding that it might be difficult given there was only so much salary cap space to re-sign Conn Smythe winner Sam Bennett, Ekblad and Marchand.

Knowing there was a chance they could lose one, or more, of them, Zito laid the foundation to retain the trio. He began by signing Bennett to an eight-year contract worth $8 million annually on June 27 before using Monday to sign Ekblad and Marchand.

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Sources: Provorov nets 7-year deal from Jackets

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Sources: Provorov nets 7-year deal from Jackets

Ivan Provorov decided to forgo free agency, with the veteran defenseman finalizing a seven-year extension Monday worth $8.5 million annually to remain with the Columbus Blue Jackets, sources told ESPN, confirming earlier reports.

With free agency slated to start Tuesday, the 28-year-old was one of the most notable defenseman who had a chance to hit the open market.

Provorov’s decision to stay with the Blue Jackets comes shortly after it was reported that Aaron Ekblad also avoided free agency by agreeing to an eight-year extension to remain with the Florida Panthers. That now leaves players such as Vladislav Gavrikov, Ryan Lindgren, and Dmitry Orlov among the more prominent pending UFAs who could be available should they fail to strike a deal with their current teams.

Retaining Provorov comes months after a season that witnessed the Blue Jackets shed the title of being a rebuilding franchise to one that could challenge for the playoffs in 2025-26.

Four consecutive seasons without the playoffs created the idea that the 2024-25 campaign could be another challenging one. But a six-game winning streak in January saw Columbus post a 22-17-6 record to create the belief that a turnaround could be in order.

The Jackets closed the season with another six-game winning streak but fell short of the final Eastern Conference wild-card playoff spot, which went to the Montreal Canadiens by two points.

Provorov would finish with seven goals and 33 points in 82 games while his 23 minutes, 21 seconds in average ice time was second behind Norris Trophy finalist Zach Werenski.

Re-signing Provorov comes in an offseason that saw the Blue Jackets also strengthen their bottom-six forward corps by adding Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche.

PuckPedia projects that the Blue Jackets now have $20.957 million in cap space ahead of free agency.

TSN was first to report news of Provorov’s decision.

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