Can Jayden Daniels stop LSU from giving his old No. 5 to another player? Almost certainly not. However, he might have considerably more control over how LSU continues to use his name.That distinction is at the center of an unusual dispute between the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner and his former school. Daniels’ attorney sent LSU a cease-and-desist letter Aug. 5 demanding it stop using the former quarterback’s name, image and likeness after LSU gave sophomore cornerback DJ Pickett the No. 5 jersey.A spokesperson for the Daniels family told ESPN the family was “deeply disappointed” and “profoundly disrespected” by the school’s decision. Pickett said LSU promised him No. 5 when it recruited him, an account both current head coach Lane Kiffin and former coach Brian Kelly confirmed Thursday.The number and NIL disputes, however, are separate legal issues. Experts told The Athletic that Daniels has little claim to control who wears No. 5, but he still controls the commercial use of his identity. His cease-and-desist raises the more complicated question of when LSU’s continued use of his identity crosses into a use that requires his permission.The Athletic spoke with six attorneys and experts in sports law, intellectual property and NIL to answer those questions.Can Daniels stop LSU from giving No. 5 to another player?Wearing a number — even while winning the Heisman — does not ordinarily give an athlete a continuing property right to it. LSU controls its uniforms and assigns its numbers.“Absent an agreement, nobody can own a number,” said Gabe Feldman, director of Tulane’s Sports Law Program and the associate provost for the school’s NCAA compliance.It would be “entirely implausible” for Daniels to claim ownership of No. 5, said Nima Mohebbi, a partner at Sidley Austin who handles complex commercial litigation.A number can help identify someone. A hypothetical video game could still evoke Daniels by combining his number, physical characteristics and other identifying details, even without using his name. That’s starkly different from another Tigers player wearing No. 5.Alan Fertel, chair of the sports, arts and entertainment law group at Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman, raised another possible argument: Daniels could claim No. 5 became a part of his personal brand and reissuing it “diluted” that association.However, experts interviewed by The Athletic generally agreed that would not give him the right to control LSU’s roster numbers.The number explains the conflict’s root, but the legal right Daniels is asserting concerns his identity.Does LSU’s right to use Daniels’ NIL have an end date?“NIL” is college-sports terminology for a longstanding legal concept: the right of publicity, generally governed by state law, which protects against certain unauthorized commercial uses of one’s identity.Jim Johnston, a partner at Davis+Gilbert whose practice includes intellectual property, advertising, media and sports, said the right remains whether someone is in high school, college, the pros or no longer competing at all.What changes is what rights an athlete has licensed to someone else and for how long.Adam B. Kenner, Daniels’ attorney, wrote that LSU’s contractual license to use Daniels’ NIL extended until 180 days after his final college game. Kenner says that provision appeared in Daniels’ agreement, not as a universal NIL rule.