The ugly side of NIL is now entering the courtrooms.
Former Florida quarterback recruit Jaden Rashada is suing Gators coach Billy Napier, prominent Florida boosters and others for allegedly defrauding him out of $13.85 million, ESPN reported Tuesday.
This lawsuit reportedly is the first instance of a player suing over a NIL (name, image and likeness) deal and includes allegations of fraud, negligence and interference with a business contract, according to the report.
“Sadly, unethical and illegal tactics like this are more and more commonplace in the Wild West that is today’s college football landscape,” reads the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Florida. “As the first scholar-athlete to take a stand against such egregious behavior by adults who should know better, Jaden seeks to hold Defendants accountable for their actions and to expose the unchecked abuse of power that they shamelessly wielded.”
Now that players are legally paid for college athletics, it opens up a whole new world of problems and it was only a matter of time before disputes took potential legal turns.
Rashada, ESPN’s No. 31 recruit in the 2023 class, alleges he turned down offers from other schools to attend Florida, only for the program to not hold up its end of the bargain.
That included a $9.5 million offer from Miami, which is part of the damages he’s requesting. Rashada originally committed to Miami before de-committing and then signing with Florida.
As Florida attempted to flip Rashada in the summer of 2022, the lawsuit alleges that eight-figure Florida booster Hugh Hathcock offered $11 million.
Hathcock, plus his Florida car dealership, are both named in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges Florida used a “pressure campaign” that eventually upped the offer to $13.85 million over four years.
Hathcock would provide $5.35 million of that total, including a $500,00 “signing bonus” through his Velocity Automotive dealership, and the rest via Florida’s Gator Guard NIL group, per ESPN.
The contract included monthly payments ranging from $195,833.33 to $250,000 over his four years, dependent on his grade classification, as long as he completed promotional and social media requests — such as branded posts — and lived in Gainesville, Fla., according to The Athletic.
However, the lawsuit alleges Hathcock didn’t want to use his company or Gator Guard to make the payments, and he worked to move the money to another NIL group in Gator Collective.
Rashada announced his decision to commit to Florida over Miami shortly after midnight on Nov. 11, 2022.
Roughly two weeks before Rashada signed with Florida, Gator Collective sent him a notice “purporting to terminate” the NIL contract, per ESPN.
Napier and Marcus Castro-Walker, a former Florida director of player engagement and NIL, allegedly promised to “make good” on the offer, and that Hathcock and Gator Guard would “personally guarantee” he received the nearly $14 million.
Hathcock later wired Rashada $150,000 to help pay back money to Miami as part of the $9.5 million NIL package he was offered, per the report.
The lawsuit alleges that two days before he signed with the school, Rashada did not have an NIL contract and the amounts being discussed fell short of the original amount.
Rashada still signed with the school on Dec. 21, 2022, National Signing Day, despite the lack of a deal, after Napier called him and his father, and was allegedly promised $1 million, per ESPN.
Rashada alleges in his lawsuit that he never received that $1 million.
Castro-Walker is alleged to have “threatened” Rashada that Florida could pass on taking him if he did not sign with the school, despite one edition of the contract being axed, according to the outlet.
The lawsuit also alleges Napier, Hathcock and Castro-Walker knew “that they lacked both the intention and the ability to fulfill” the NIL package. However, “it doesn’t include documents or correspondence to show that knowledge,” per ESPN.
“Once Jaden committed to UF, rather than make Jaden ‘rich’ as promised, these people — with Hathcock leading the charge — changed their tune and went back on their word,” the lawsuit reads. “The amount of UF-affiliated NIL money available for Jaden decreased drastically.”
Rashada ultimately backed out of playing for Florida and spent his freshman year with Arizona State. He’ll now suit up for Georgia this fall.
He threw for 485 yards and four touchdowns last year.
